Shinobi OneHalf
by Innortal
Summary: A betrayal at a shrine, tossed into a new world to be saved. What does this line of destiny have in store for Ranma and Nabiki.
1. Falling Into Destiny

**Shinobi One-Half**

**Chapter 1**

**Falling Into Destiny**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

13213213213213213213213211321231321321321321321321321321321321321321

Ranma grumbled as he walked down the corridor, deep into a cave hidden under a temple in Nerima. "Why am I doing this again?" he asked.

"Because the pay is good, Saotome," said Nabiki, right behind him, video camera in hand. "The priest wanted you to check the seals, fix if needed, and that's what you're going to do."

The martial artist sighed. _Yeah, and you can take all the money again._

He was thinking it, but he wasn't stupid enough to say it. Nabiki tended to make one pay more in the long run for any such comments.

"And why are you here again?" grumbled Ranma. After all, Nabiki never dirtied herself with any hard work like this if she could avoid it ... usually by having him do it.

The middle Tendo sighed. "The priest insisted that I go along and document the procedure, so he could have future people do this when and if the seals needed it again ... and proof that we actually did it. Apparently, he feels we'd be less likely to cheat him if we have proof it was done, and he says two people need to go: one to hold the camera, and one to fix the seals."

Ranma nodded. "Couldn't find anyone else, could you."

"I'm insulted, Ranma-kun," she said in insincere pain. "I am an honest woman, seeking an honest day's work."

He glared at her, stopping their descent.

"Fine, he insisted I do it, since I was taking the pay and signed up for the job."

Ranma slowly turned around. _Why ain't I surprised?_

"Besides, Saotome," she smirked, "you know how much I could get for this video?"

_That's why I ain't surprised._

1231321321321321313212312313213213213213213212313213213213213213231

Mousse smirked as the paid actor left, counting the money the nearly-blind Amazon had paid him—as well as not telling him that the fool had paid him nearly four times what he had promised—helps if you can see the bills you are handing over.

The plan was set. The normal priest was out on a fake blessing Mousse had called in about ... on the other side of the Ward. And not only was Saotome down inside the cavern with the sealed demon, but so was the pain-in-the-ass Tendo as well.

If it wasn't for her, not only would he have had enough money to get his eyes fixed, but he would have been able to buy that one present that would have finally convinced Shampoo that he was the one for her.

The fact that said present was a battered tanuki statue that someone had sold the local pawn shop, and not the glittering statue of lovers embraced that he thought it was, had not hit him yet.

Now, all he had to do was trap them down there, where'd they be stuck. And since the Old Hag had never taught Ranma the Bakusai Tenketsu, the worthless tormentor of his love would be forever stuck within the bowels of that demon tomb.

The fact that he had somehow gotten the actor to convince Nabiki to go down there as well was an added bonus.

Now, if he could just find the breaking point on the wall, so he could seal them in. "Why do they always have to be so small," he wondered, as he stared at the fountain in front of him.

13213223132131232131232132132132132132132132132123321231321321321233213

"Hmm," said Ranma, looking at a wall.

"What is it, Saotome?" Nabiki asked, pointing the camera at him. Whatever footage she didn't give the priest might offer some more material so she could blackmail him out of his share of the fee.

"Just reading the wall," said Ranma.

"Will wonders never cease," Nabiki said, fanning herself in sarcastic shock. "Saotome taking the time to read."

"Hey, I ain't stupid enough to have that stuff happen again!" he declared.

"What stuff?" she asked.

213232132132132132132132132123132132132132132123132132132132132132231

_Flashback, nine years before arriving at the Tendo Dojo..._

"**You dare disturb my rest!"** bellowed a minor spirit, as it hovered above the two frightened martial artists.

"I didn't know!" cried Ranma. "Pops said it was just a rusty room with something I needed ta get to be a man!"

The spirit paused, looking over the two. **"But there were warnings everywhere!"**

"Take the boy, he's the one who woke you up!" yelled Genma, trying to save his own skin.

"You told me there weren't anything in there, and that if I passed this test, then I could learn a new move!" yelled Ranma, staring at his father.

"**I see,"** said the spirit. **"If that is the case, then I shall be merciful just this once."**

Genma slowly wiped his forehead. It looked like he would survive ... and so would the boy. _Damn, now I need to find something to teach him._

"**But I shall still exact punishment on you."**

"Take your punishment like a man, boy," said Genma, tossing the boy towards the spirit.

"**Not him,"** smirked the spirit. **"You!"**

12313213132132132131232132132132132132132132132131232113321321321321321

"After that, Pops never had a single hair on his head," said Ranma. "And after that screw-up, I made sure that the next Temple we went across, I got the monks ta teach me how to read this crap."

Nabiki slowly nodded. It did sound plausible, and Genma certainly was not one to think of consequences. "So why don't you put the same attitude towards your school work?"

"Pops ain't ever offered me up to some pissed off spirit in a school," said Ranma, as he continued to read the carvings in the walls.

"And?"

"It says here that this demon was very powerful," said Ranma. "And that it nearly destroyed the land, even when the brave men of the Shogun rose up to defeat it."

"They must have," said Nabiki. "Otherwise, I doubt we would be here."

"Well, it says they had help," said Ranma, pointing to some more symbols. "It says that two Raiju helped them out; a tanuki and a c-c-c-furry thing," said Ranma, shivering at the last bit. "They held the demon while the priests sealed it up inside here."

"Good for them," said Nabiki, quickly becoming bored with the legend.

"But the two Raiju were sealed up as well," added Ranma, "to forever guard the shrine in case the demon was ever freed."

"So if you screw up, we'll have two thunder beasts helping us."

Ranma snorted. "Thanks for having such faith in my abilities," he said.

Nabiki smirked. "So then, where are these seals we need to fix?" she asked.

"We?"

"We as in you, Ranma-kun," she said, smiling, as she looked through the lens of the camera.

Ranma nodded, pulling close to a hundred sheets of the seals from inside his shirt. "Well, we better. This thing says as a precaution, the priests made some sort of seal that if the demon ever gets released from the seals, everything near it will get pulled in ta oblivion."

Nabiki paused a bit, as the idea of her own self in a danger she might not be able to force him into defending her against came to light. "What?"

"Um," said Ranma, straining with the translation. "Something about everything near the shrine being drug into a ... pit of never ending nothingness, I think," said Ranma, scratching his head.

Nabiki gulped. She didn't believe in much, but she could see this being true. After all, she doubted her older sister could ever be possessed.

Granted, an oni bent on making people evil couldn't make her sister do much. But still... "Let's go, Saotome. I want to be out of here in an hour, and not in some pit of never ending nothingness."

"Sure," he said shrugging. After all, what could this pit be like? School? An ocean of food made by the tomboy on a bad day? Guys his father promised him to?

"Why did you just slap yourself, Saotome?" asked Nabiki.

"Trying to get the bad idea of something the dumb panda could have done out of my head," said Ranma, rubbing his cheek.

13213212123132131321132132132132132132132132132132132132132132123321

Mousse finally nodded at the sealed cavern. As he looked at his watch, he pushed a button.

"**One minute, forty-seven seconds remaining."**

He smirked. "That talking watch was a good idea."

"Why was that, Mr. Part-timer?" asked an aged voice he knew heralded trouble for his plan.

Slowly, he turned, spotting several girls and an old ghoul he had hoped to avoid. "Um..."

"What stupid Mousse do now?" asked Shampoo.

"My love!" cried Mousse, hoping he could keep them distracted until his little presents destroyed the seals.

"Take thy hands of the Blue Thunder this instant!" cried Tatewaki Kuno. "Surely the Foul Sorcerer is responsible for such a ... wretched attack upon my person!"

"Why brother-dear," said Kodachi, twirling her ribbon, "this does explain your pursuit of Akane Tendo and the redheaded harridan. I knew that you doth protested too much."

"Huh?" said the poetic male Kuno.

"Okay jackass," growled Ukyo. "Where is Ranchan?"

"I bet that baka is off with some other hussy," growled Akane, slightly fearful that it might be true this time.

Mousse gulped. He needed to keep them busy, until it was too late. Surely Shampoo would forgive him after the fact. After all, it was love they shared ... right?

323231321231321321231321321321321321321321321321321231321321321321231

"So all we need to do is just put some more power into those seals and we're off?" asked Nabiki, trying not to show any nervousness about the fact she was on a mission that could end with her being sucked into oblivion. If it wasn't for the fact she wouldn't get paid otherwise, she'd hand the camera to Ranma and be off.

"Sounds about right," said Ranma, pausing as they walked to read the occasional writings on the wall.

"Anything interesting, Saotome?"

"Not really?"

"Well then, what do they say?" she asked, knowing that like his father, Ranma tended to consider things most people would see as need-to-know, as unimportant.

"Just some tales about the Raiju," he said. "It says the tanuki had five tails, and was the mate of the c-c-furry thing, which had six tails."

Nabiki paused for a bit. In Japanese legend, she had never heard of anything, Raiju or demon, that had so many tails. Hell, she thought Raiju all had one. And the most she knew about was a nekomata, who could have two. Off the top of her head, she could only remember rumors and tales of foxes having more than two tails.

She might count the eight-headed Orochi, but that was a head, not a tail. "Wonder why they had so many," she muttered.

"Says they were favored by Raijin," said Ranma, scratching his head. How anyone could like a cat was beyond him. "Since they were favored, he gave them more power, so they could watch the skies without a storm to sustain them," he said.

Nabiki gulped. God-favored beasts watching a demon, all set on some sort of spell that would suck them all to oblivion if the demon tried to escape. _I should have never taken that guy's money._

"There it is," said Ranma, startling her out of her thoughts.

The tunnel widened out considerably, in to a large chamber, one much larger than she would have ever expected into Nerima, let alone Tokyo. A central spire seemed to run from the hidden bottom of the chamber, to end at a pedestal.

On the pedestal, where the multi-tailed Raiju seemed to be holding down ... something ... with their front paws. The something seemed like a hodgepodge of animal features, making Ranma wonder if it was related to Taro in some way. He could make out two distinct types of wings, vine-like tentacles, three mouths, and what looked like spider eyes. But he wasn't about to get any closer to see what else might be there, not if he could help it. The damned multi-tailed cat was scarier to him. Not that he'd ever admit it.

The edge of the platform that they seemed to be gathered on was covered with faded or torn seals. Before that, stretched a solitary path, that seemed to have no other support than the side of the chamber directly in front of them, and just below the pedestal of the animals.

The damned multi-tailed cat was scarier to him. Not that he'd ever admit it.

Beyond that, stretched a solitary path, that seemed to have no other support than the side of the chamber directly in front of them, and just below the pedestal of the animals.

"Saotome," she said at a near whisper, "I don't care how you do it, but get those seals renewed fast. I don't want to be in this place any longer than I need to."

Ranma nodded, pretending to be put out by her request.

Truthfully, he didn't want to be anywhere near that shrine for any longer than he needed. That multi-tailed cat statue was really creeping him out. It was like it was staring at him.

Moving quickly, and hoping none of the seals near that creepy statue needed to be renewed, he got to work, wiping off a ruined seal, infusing his ki into the new one, and slapping it on, pausing only long enough to see his ki spread out from it and into the statue, proving that the new seal had been applied correctly.

All of which was being videotaped by Nabiki.

Nodding at a job well done—and hopefully one step closer to having enough funds to get that new treat the ice cream shop was offering, he moved on to the next one.

He was through the first five ... of a hundred ... when he heard a slight ticking sound.

"Saotome, get back to work," she said, staying where the sixth seal had to be renewed.

"In a minute," he said, wondering around. "I heard something."

Nabiki sighed, hoping the next words she heard were not "Now where the Hell am I?" and "Prepare to die!"

"What the hell?" he muttered, crossing around the statue. It was taking him closer to that creepy cat one, but he had to find out what it was. Who knew, maybe the old guy who ran the shrine had left his watch down here. He wouldn't put it past them to do that on purpose to ensure they actually went down there.

He didn't find a watch.

He found a ticking duck ... with enough dynamite to make a very loud boom. "NABIKI!" he yelled, as he kicked the thing off the edge, and hoped it would fall far enough not to be a problem.

"RUN!" he yelled, as he leapt over the statue and grabbed her, as the explosion went off.

131321321323213132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132213

"For the last time, Mr. Part-timer," said Cologne, "what are you doing here?"

She was currently standing on his chest, as he was currently lying on the ground, having been pounded by Akane for his last attempt to shower love onto Shampoo ... by glomping onto Kasumi.

"That wasn't very proper, Akane," said Kasumi, straightening her clothes, "... even if he did deserve it for touching me like that."

Akane smiled, as she dusted her knuckles off. "Glad to help, sis."

"Shampoo know she no supposed to like Pervert Girl," said Shampoo. "Am sure now. Only Shampoo supposed to be girl who beat Stupid Mousse!"

"See, my love!" cried Mousse. "It is proof that we are meant to be together! Destiny will prevail!"

"Stupid Mousse," said Shampoo, smacking him in the head with her bonbori. "Shampoo not like destiny if that it! Shampoo rather destiny be to be Airen of Stupid Stick Boy!"

"So yet another woman of the Foul Sorcerer seeks my—"

The sound of the other bonbori striking the Blue Thunder echoed across the courtyard.

"Now see what Stupid Mousse do!" yelled Shampoo. "Now Shampoo have Stupid Stick Boy after her!"

"I'd suggest you start talking, child," said Cologne, still on his chest. "Otherwise, I'll have to let her vent some more anger on you."

"Shampoo would never hurt me!"

**WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! **

"Oh, that must have hurt," said Kasumi, as Shampoo stopped beating Mousse's head.

"Enough, child," said Cologne, holding back the next blow with her staff. "If he's out cold, he can't tell us what stupidity he's done now."

A muffled boom rang out across the courtyard, as the ground shook momentarily. "Too late," Mousse said, before he slipped into unconsciousness.

1321321231321312321321321312321321321321321321321231321321321321321321

Ranma had cleared a good bit of the bridge when the bomb exploded. Even as it began to crack as the damage to the central pillar began to spread, he was still certain he could clear it all and get Nabiki into the corridor and run like hell, before that final seal activated.

Somehow, being sucked into a never ending nothingness didn't sound too appealing at the moment, and being stuck in it with Nabiki, a demon, and two Raiju made it sound even less so.

But the damaged sections spread faster than he thought, and it was only by luck that he managed to grab a hold of the former floor, slamming himself and Nabiki into the exposed surface.

"Damn it!" she cried out, still thrown over his shoulder, and feeling new pain lance across her backside and lower back. She didn't think anything was broken, but there was bound to be one hell of a bruise the next day. "What the hell?"

"Mousse!" yelled Ranma, trying to pull himself up onto what remained of the walkway, before it too crumbled and fell into the pit below. "It was a duck with explosives on it!"

Nabiki clenched her teeth, swearing she would see him fried as Sunday dinner for this.

"**FREEEEEEDDDDOOOOOOOOMMMMM!"**

Ranma's eyes shot wide, as he pushed more effort into pulling themselves up. "I think ... the demon's freed!" gasped Ranma, finally pulling them up onto the walkway.

"No shit, Saotome," grumbled Nabiki, as she struggled to stand, pain lancing anew up her spine.

"**You will not terrorize the humans, you piece of shit!"** bellowed a female voice from the pit.

"**Even if we fall, we shall serve our Master and ensure you're filth never touches the holy grounds of our home!"** came a new male voice.

"**You fools!"** cried the demonic voice. **"If we stay here, that spell those fool priests left behind will finish us off! We'll all die!"**

"**So be it,"** said the female Raiju.

"**Rather our lives lost, than the countless you will steal!"** bellowed the male Raiju.

"**And the humans stuck here?"** the demon said with a smirk, as something rose from the pit, and rushed towards the still winded duo.

"Shit," growled Ranma, still weak from what had happened, as he dashed and grabbed Nabiki, trying to keep the both of them from being caught by that ... thing. Tentacles sometimes took on a more dangerous appearance to you when you were a girl ... if for even a part-time girl.

A long thick tail rose before them, swatting the tentacle away. **"No hostages today, Byel!"**

"**It doesn't matter, you furred fools!"** yelled the demon. **"They are already dead! The seal will open within moments and consume them as well as us!"**

Ranma didn't care what they were discussing. "Get up, Nabiki," he growled, forcing himself to a standing position, as he helped her move forward towards the tunnel, and hopefully safety.

He could hear it, a slow howling sound, as if wind was blowing past him. The speed was slow, but it was increasing. And the last thing he wanted was to be somewhere he couldn't secure himself, and pulled into the dark pit with the demon and that c-c-cat!

"Saotome," said Nabiki, wheezing slightly, as the air blew past her face, nearly robbing it from her mouth.

"Come on," said Ranma, as he lumbered towards the way out. If he was lucky, he might be able to use one of the thinner areas of the passageway to keep from being pulled into that.

But so far, today hadn't been very lucky.

132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132132

"What is going on here?" yelled a man, entering the grounds. "What are you people doing at this shrine?"

"I take it you are the shrine caretaker?" asked Cologne.

"Yes," said the man. "And why are you beating on that special needs person?"

"I AM NOT MENTALLY HANDICAPPED!" yelled Mousse.

"My apologies," said the priest. "I should not have made an assumption based on your clothes."

"What is wrong with what I'm wearing?" he yelled from the ground.

"You're wearing a thick robe in the middle of summer. What else could you be, if not a flasher?

"You aren't a flasher, are you?" asked the priest, fingering his staff. He dealt with so many perverted youth in the area, it paid to be careful.

"It would seem that the fool sealed a young man and woman down in the shrine," said Cologne, bopping Mousse in the head once more.

"A fitting end for the Foul Sorcerer," declared Tatewaki.

"My sister's down there too, you jerks!" yelled Akane.

"But the force that tries to keep us apart is sealed within holy grounds!" proclaimed the Blue Thunder. "Surely the dark mage's spell on you is waning!"

"DIE!" yelled Akane, as she punched him in the head—thus sparing him any important damage—and sending him across the courtyard.

The priest could only stare at the collapsed entrance into the catacombs of the shrine. "No," he whispered.

He grabbed Mousse by his collar, picking him off the ground, as fear raced through his old body. "You will tell me what you've done this instant, or so help me; I'll seal you forever in a bathroom toilet paper dispenser for all of eternity!"

Mousse gulped. This guy was a lot scarier than the Old Hag. Weren't all priests and monks supposed to be pacifists?

13213131321321321321321313213132132131321321313132131321313213213213123

Ranma strained against the pull, trying to keep Nabiki between him and the exit, while his hands dug into the sides of the path, to keep from being pulled back into the chamber. The pull was already strong enough to prevent him from trying to push himself forward, lest he be yanked back into the developing void.

"**NOOOOO!" **cried the demon, as it began to slip into the maw of oblivion.

"**Go back to the Hell that spawned you!" **yelled the Cat Raiju.

"**At least..."** it growled out, as its body sunk beyond the rim, **"I will know you two died with me!"**

It began to laugh, even as it was consumed by the black hole.

"**Fool," **said the female tanuki Raiju. **"Did you think our Lord would not have seen to it that we would have had the option to escape?"**

The two seemed to be hovering just out of range of the miniature black hole, even as more of the room was sucked into it.

"**If we leave, the humans in the hallway will perish,"** said the cat, looking at the tunnel. **"To be fair, that they survived past Byel's death is a miracle."**

Tanuki nodded. **"Sad but true. But are they worth saving? Many of the warriors facing Byel had dark souls themselves."**

"**It is not for us to judge them, my love,"** said the cat. **"But they do have fear, even I can sense it. The female is full of it; the male is fighting it back."**

"**A closer look then?"** asked the tanuki, as the holds Ranma had ... gave way.

1231321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321

"You fool!" yelled the priest. "You dare risk all the lives within this world on some petty quest!"

"To put so many at risk to defeat the Foul Sorcerer," said Tatewaki, stroking his chin. "Nay, the Gods themselves would need to bless such an event, if it would free beauties like the fierce tigress and the pigtailed girl, so that they might express their love for me freely!"

The priest glared at the delusional boy, before hitting him with his staff ... hard.

"That hurt, you know," grumbled Tatewaki, rubbing his head.

"I will do whatever it takes to free my beloved Shampoo!" yelled Mousse, earning him a whack on the head from Cologne.

"But doesn't that simply require that you defeat her in a marriage challenge?" asked Kasumi.

"Are you mad?" yelled Mousse. "I could never hurt my precious Shampoo!"

Kodachi sighed. "And here I thought none could compare to the self-serving delusional ability of my brother."

"You don't understand!" yelled the priest. "That demon was very real. And if the fail-safe seal fails..."

Their conversation came to a stop, as the ground around the shrine began to sink.

"What the Hell!" yelled Akane.

"The final failsafe activated," said the priest, clapping his hands, as he fell into a prayer. "May the Gods have mercy upon their souls."

131321321321321231321321321321321321321213321321321321321321231321321321

"**They are strange, are they not, my love?" **asked the Tanuki. **"There are no bonds of trust, of love, of family; and yet he risked his life to save her."**

"**I try not to attempt a complete understanding of humanity, my dear,"** said the Cat Raiju. **"But these two do seem to be ... unique."**

"**I think they make a cute couple."**

The Cat Raiju sighed. **"May I remind you that the last 'cute couple' you tried to assist slew each other during the night?"**

"**They were still a cute couple, even when the Shinigami came for their souls."**

"**I suppose we should save them,"** said the Cat, trying to pull his love's attention away from more hair-brained match-ups. The world had been safe from his wife's ideas of 'perfect matches' for hundreds of years. He supposed he could try and keep it so.

"**Yes, our Lord would be most pleased if we were too,"** said the Tanuki Raiju. **"Even if we fail and pass beyond this life, his knowledge that we went doing what he wished will be a great reward."**

Nodding, the two raced towards the slowly spiraling humans, time itself shifting to a slow crawl, as they made their way to them. After all, time was a concern for matter more so than for energy.

And Raiju did so enjoy being energy.

Splitting apart slightly, the two beings became complete energy, as the cat surrounded the body of the boy, while the tanuki surrounded the body of the girl. Where they met, the energy seemed to ... caress the other, as a strange pulse began to form.

Within the small range of the two, space itself began to warp, more so than it had for the now destroyed demon. It was as if the space within it was sealing itself off from the world around it.

And in an instant, it was gone, moved from one point in space-time to another, the distance determined by both the wills of the Raiju, and the very item they were escaping from.

But as they disappeared, time seemed to jump forward to its normal speed, as the cavern seemed to collapse more into the black hole.

13213132132132131321321321321321321321321321321321321321233213232132132

Cologne hopped to the new pit, looking at what remained of the shrine, as the priest explained what said failsafe had been, much to the horror of the girls around him.

The hopes were not high that her favored son-in-law had survived that. Even this far from it, she had sensed the immense energies at play, even before whatever had sucked the ground from under the shrine had come into play.

It made Saffron look like ... well, the youngest Tendo.

Shaking her head, she reached into her shirt, pulling out a necklace with a small liquid filled ball at the end. It had been something she had fashioned when the Saotome boy had defeated her for the Phoenix Pill. Inside it were a small drop of blood of either of his genders, and a small compass needle, that would always point to his location, and water to fill the remaining space.

It was also a safe way to tell if he was dead. If he was, then the magic that suspended the needle within the liquid would fail, and the needle would settle on the bottom. Otherwise, it would point to his location.

That of course, was also assuming he was within their time frame. If he had ended up in the past or future, the needle would slowly rotate along the vertical access, horizontal if he was merely out of phase with the rest of the universe.

You'd be surprised how often such things had occurred within the three thousand years of Chinese Amazon history.

But the needle was neither rotating along the vertical axis, horizontal axis, nor was it settled on the bottom.

It was spinning in every direction, as if it had no clue where to point, and as if Ranma was currently everywhere and yet nowhere.

"Most odd," she said, examining the ball. "This will take a while to understand."

"Great-grandmother?"

She turned to see her great-granddaughter behind her, looking solemn. "He is alive, child," said Cologne, keeping her voice down so as to not alert the others.

"AIREN ALIVE!" shouted Shampoo, her excitement overriding her sense of secrecy.

"WHAT?" yelled the others behind her.

Cologne sighed. She really needed to work with Shampoo on a little something called tact.

1321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321231321321321

Looking up from his den, he spotted a two-colored streak making its way across the sky.

"**Hmm,"** went the Kyuubi no Yoko, staring at the slow moving comet. **"What do we have here? Well, it has been a while since any new Bijuu have appeared. So, what are you?"**

He stared intently at the light, trying to understand the weird chakra moving within it. After all, since every Bijuu eventually made their way to try and dethrone him, it paid to pay attention to a new possible challenger. He was in no mood to spend another hundred years fighting an upstart Bijuu for his title.

"**Hmm, another cat and tanuki, but these are much more powerful than that stupid Shukaku or the Nekomata. Their chakra seems to be bent to help protect the other.**

"**Yes, must be lovers. Must have been pretty lonely to have hooked up like that. But it also means if one of them is stupid enough to challenge me, the other will assist. **

"**Could be an interesting fight.**

"**What's this? I sense human chakra within the demonic chakra! Two ****Jinchuuriki? But the joining seems ... harmonic? **

"**Why would two powerful Bijuu willingly fuse with a lowly human?"**

The demon fox merely shook his head, as he turned back into his den to return to sleep. **"To be sealed in a human, how low can you get."**

132132132132132132132132131321321231321321321321321321321321321321321

Minato Namikaze sighed as his remaining team made their way home with the remaining survivors of the Leaf's frontline assault on the Rock ninja. The third member of his team, Obito Uchiha, was dead, currently sealed inside a scroll to make transporting his body back to the village easier.

But death never got easier, even when you were about to be made Hokage.

He shook his head at the waste of it all. True, they had avoided getting the Fire Country involved in the Third Great Ninja War. But it would be up to future generations to ensure that the loss of life of those of Konoha, especially the loss of Obito in the Kanabi Bridge mission.

The most he could do for the boy now was to store his body in a scroll by itself, as the remaining ninjas from the Leaf held the remaining scrolls that held the fallen comrades and Rock ninjas.

"A shooting star," said Rin, looking up into the sky.

Kakashi paused a bit, looking up with his one uncovered eye. He wished he could lift up the pulled down head protector, but he was still pretty drained from using Chidori so much that day. "Don't they usually burn up? This one is still up there."

Minato paused now, looking up, as a strong sense of demonic chakra seemed to envelop the area. "INCOMING!" he yelled, as the Leaf ninjas each dove out of the incoming shooting star.

The ground shook, as the explosive shockwave of impact rang out, blowing away anything not tied down to the ground, and sending two of the assault force into trees.

Minato stood his ground, his two charges held tightly, as he stared at the epicenter of impact.

There, before him, stood Bijuu!

The tanuki, five tails formed behind it, howled into the sky, while a cat, six tails, roared as well.

_We ... are so dead._ The team leader could only gulp as he saw the possible worst case scenario play out before him. He was tired, his team consisted of Kakashi, Rin, and four tired jounins fresh from a field operation.

Before them were two Bijuu he had never heard of before—all he knew of in that department for a cat and tanuki were only supposed to have two and one tails respectively.

And they were looking right at him. It took all the mental will the famed Yellow Flash had not to soil himself.

"**A kind soul,"** said the female Tanuki.

The cat nodded. **"We charge you with watching over those whom we have saved from death. Do you accept?"**

Minato blinked. "Huh?"

Kakashi sighed. His sensei could be a bit dense at times.

The cat chuckled. **"We have saved two humans from being killed in a world far removed from this one. They have no home here, no past, and no future unless we find a kind soul to take them in and teach them the ways of this world.**

"**Do ... you ... accept?"**

Minato blinked once more. "You're asking me to watch over two people you saved from death?"

The two Bijuu dipped their heads slightly.

He could only scratch his head. Bijuu helping people. Yes, this was definitely an odd day for him. "Sure," he said. After all, if these people had befriended tailed demons, that made them very special. Even the village elders wouldn't cast such people out. The hard part would be keeping them out of an ANBU lab.

The two Bijuu dipped their heads once more, as they disappeared in a flash of light.

The Leaf Ninja slowly crept over to the small pit the landing of the Bijuu had caused, wanting to see what if anything had been left behind.

Inside the pit, were two forms; a man with loose black hair, and a girl with short brown hair.

"Anyone have some clean clothes they can wear?" asked Minato, after seeing that the two rescued by Bijuu were naked.

"You know," said one of the other jounin, "I can already tell that they have one hell of a story to tell."

13213213213213213213213213213213211321321321321321321321231321321321321

"**Free at last!"** came a small demonic voice, as a familiar figure rose above the pit.

"It survived!" yelled Soun, preparing to run...er...show people the correct way to leave the vicinity.

"Some demon," muttered the bruised Mousse, having been on the receiving end of Akane's wrath for the possible deaths of her sister and unwanted fiancé.

"Oh, that is just something a colleague of mine shipped to me from America."

The fathers gulped, recognizing the demon, as it flew into Kasumi.

"Oh my," said the eldest Tendo daughter, rubbing the horns on her head. "I'm sorry, but it looks like I'll have to be evil again."

"Start digging, Saotome!" yelled Soun, as he flew into the pit and began shoveling dirt away. "We need your son to defeat this creature and save my defenseless Kasumi!" He still had nightmares about the last time the dreaded oni had possessed his daughter.

"Right, Tendo," said Genma, more fearful of having to face the lack of Kasumi's cooking and Nodoka's sword if she heard what had occurred here today.


	2. Wrong Side of Reality Part 1

**Shinobi One-Half**

**Chapter 2**

**Waking Up on the Wrong Side of Reality Part 1**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

13213213213213213213213211321231321321321321321321321321321321321321

Some would ask, having seen the definitions of reality between the two universes involved, a few questions.

One of which, is what would be the difference between Bijuu and Raiju.

The answer would be very simple.

Raiju, by their very nature, are elemental beings. They exist as fire or lightning, and are companion beasts of Lord Raijin, the Shinto God of Lightning. They are rumored to sleep in human navels, and be mostly harmless, unless the skies make them restless.

Bijuu are somewhat similar, but are not limited to existing as either lightning or fire. The elements that form them have no limit or range, though they are made more of the energy of life, than a Raiju.

But that is not to say a Raiju cannot become a Bijuu.

The Tanuki and Cat Raiju who were blessed by Raijin as his favorites, who chose to be sealed alongside the demon Byel, and were told by their Lord, even as they laid sealed, how to leave when the final seal was broken, could fall into this category.

One item that describes a Bijuu is power. The more tails a Bijuu has, the stronger they are in terms of raw power. Like all things, having power and knowing how to use it are two different things.

It is often why many mythical creatures need either a boost or a blessing to achieve higher levels, and why many times, they can be defeated by those with much less power than they possess.

That is why a Tanuki Raiju can grow in power and strength to be a Gobi—a five tailed beast. It is why a Cat Raiju can become a Rokubi—a six tailed beast. By being blessed by Raijin, they were able to overcome their limits. By learning and fighting for their Lord, they grew in power and in skill.

This was rare in itself. Most cat spirits never grew beyond Nibi—two tails. Even then, they were often tricksters, much like the Tanuki and Yoko. It was even rarer for a female Tanuki no less, to reach such levels with their Lord. Often, a female Tanuki would stay hidden in the forests, within the domain the tanuki will choose for a lair.

In effect, these two could be called the first Bijuu of the world of Ranma Saotome and Nabiki Tendo.

It is also why the two sought a human with a kind heart to watch over the two they had rescued. Their jump was not meant to cross the void of existence, to cross time and space to a different universe. It was merely meant to take them to the spot their former temple had been at, a place where their Lord had first elevated them above all other Raiju, and even blessed their union.

Therefore, it was a surprise to them as well that being as close as they had to the all-consuming abyss had propelled them far beyond where they had intended to go. Far removed from their Lord and his home, they waited, wondering and hoping either for a way to return, or a sign from their Lord as to what to do.

So they chose to save the humans, give them a chance in this new world, and slumber within their bodies.

Of course, that was not the fear within the Rokubi. No, his fear was of his mate, and what terror she might release, as she lay resting within the female human vessel.

The only thing he could do was try and warn the male within the only connection they could communicate with: the world of the mind.

1321231321321321231321321321231321321321231321231321321321231231231231

She was hardly one to live her life with regret. In truth, she rarely regretted anything she ever did. Not sending her family into poverty, not selling Ranma-chan handkerchiefs, not selling Ranma to pay off those gambling debts in Hong Kong, not supporting Tatewaki Kuno's obsession, and not allowing her rival to fall to his near death over a bet of ten yen.

She did regret a few situations where she could have gotten more money for said actions. But such was the way of business, hindsight is always 20-20.

Regret required emotional investment of sorts into the issue at hand. And if there was one thing the Ice Queen was good at, it was keeping her emotions in check. Despite the many situations that she had fallen into where her life had the potential to end, she was proud to have remained cool under the massive pressure.

But then, those situations always had the chance to end well.

Falling towards a black hole doesn't offer much in the way of a victory, even with Ranma Saotome holding onto you. There are some forces one cannot overcome, and she felt that despite any protests to the contrary he would have made, a black hole was a force even he couldn't defeat.

When death is a certainty beyond any shadow of a doubt, beyond any hope of rescue from, it is often then that people begin to reflect on their lives. Some say it is a reminder of what sins we have done, before we meet judgment. Others say it is a final review by the mind, to see what sort of life we have lived, and if we were happy with it.

And what did she first notice?

_I should have charged more interest on that loan._

But such a death slowly pulls off the layers we place onto ourselves, shows an inner self that many repress or forget, the innocent child many of us once were.

_Those photos were worth way more than Kodachi paid._

Some of us take longer to find that inner child.

"**An interesting girl you are,"** said a new voice. **"Even now, you still fight to not change your ways, even facing death. It shows a great deal about your character."**

Nabiki opened her eyes; expecting to see some version of an afterlife, either puffy white clouds or a burning abyss. If it was the latter, she felt safe; since technically, she owned a few souls if she recalled in several debts.

But she merely saw herself, surrounded by darkness. "Well, this is new."

"**What child? Were you expecting all-consuming flames, eternal torment, or someone with a staff showing you off to reincarnation?**

"**Trust me, if the latter was true, then I doubt very seriously it would be long before a child stepped on you and returned you here."**

Nabiki looked around, trying to spot the voice. "You seem to be certain I will end up badly off in the next world."

"**My type are far more familiar with what awaits your human existence when a Shinigami claims your soul than a human is, child. Then again, we usually understand karma, as well as have first hand experience with such."**

"And I should be worried about such things, why exactly?" asked Nabiki, still trying to locate the source of the strange voice. "After all, if I'm alert enough to have this conversation with you, then I must still be alive."

The voice seemed to chuckle at that. **"Smart and self-assured, but your ego, your will, your desires... No, these are not things befitting a human whom we have saved."**

"So you plan to change me somehow?" asked Nabiki.

"**No child. **

"**But you will change yourself, especially if you hope to survive here..."**

Nabiki had no time to ask what she meant, before the world went dark once again, and thought faded to dreams.

13213121332132132132132132132132132123123123132132132132132123121231123

The two men who were the labeled Third Hokage and the soon-to-be sworn in Fourth Hokage, sat within the office, as they talked about their new guests.

"These are very strange Bijuu, if that was what they were," said Sarutobi, as he looked over the sketches that Minato had provided about the two creatures they had met.

The blond nodded, leaning against the wall, as his predecessor sat at the desk. "You never hear of them taking such care with a human, let alone two.

"Then again, I never heard of a Rokubi Neko or a Gobi Tanuki either, let alone a female tanuki."

The old man nodded. "Are they perhaps sealed within the humans?"

"If so, no one has been able to find them," said Minato. "Usually, you can feel their taint within a chakra coil if you look hard enough. But the medics found nothing odd or different within their coils."

"They must have some connection to the humans," said Sarutobi.

"If they do, they'll reveal it in time," said Minato, as he stretched his tired form. "I better go get cleaned up. The formal ceremony will begin in a few hours."

Sarutobi nodded. "Between this mission, Orochimaru's defection, and these unheard of Bijuu, I must say I don't envy you in what awaits the new Hokage of the Hidden Leaf."

"Sure, leave me an easy job," chuckled Minato, as he left the office.

Sarutobi sighed, as he looked over the files. With no evidence, he would have to inform the ruling council that the two were not Jinchuuriki. At the very least, it would keep those like Danzo away from them ... he hoped. But he wasn't going to count that to be true. Danzo always had a way of finding things out that were supposed to be hidden.

The second problem was then what to do with them. Minato did agree to take them into the village, meaning they were now citizens.

But as such, they would have to face certain requirements. They didn't need to be ninjas, but their ... backgrounds now demanded a serious chance at the job.

But that in itself may not end up being a problem. He didn't know where the boy came from, but he was very strong in ... something that was similar to chakra, close to jounin levels if the medical report was accurate. If the boy decided to join the village, he would prove valuable to them. Already, though they had made no comment about what it was that excited them so, a few medical nin informed him that the boy's blood had 'several interesting properties.'

Sadly, that alone could mean anything. Some medic nin tended to get excited over the smallest of discovers, and act as if they had cured death. Somehow, they refused to understand that a new medical jutsu to deal with ingrown toenails was **not** a vital discovery.

Well, maybe if you had an ingrown toenail it was, but that wasn't the point.

But any questions about what they found as well as the source of that information would have to wait. The boy was experiencing what was very similar to chakra exhaustion. But he was recovering quickly. They had only been able to guess at what his energy limits might be due to certain techniques to test if a captured enemy was as strong as they pretended to be.

Until then, their most likely source of information would have to be the female who had accompanied him. She didn't show anything else than extreme shock and thus she would be waking up before the boy.

He just had to be careful. "I better let Ibiki know. He's one of the best at reading people."

Nodding, the Third Hokage stood, and looked over his office. Soon, it wouldn't be his anymore. After today, it would be Minato's, and he would be the first Hokage of the Leaf ever to retire.

"Sometimes, it is better to let the younger generation take the reigns," he said smiling, as he shut off the light, and left to fetch the ANBU interrogator. "It'll be nice not to have these headache's falling into **my **lap."

1231231321321321231231321321321321321321321321321321321321321321231231

He had no name, had never had a name, even when he was in direct service of his Lord Raijin. But for all who would see him in this world, they would refer to him as the Rokubi no Neko.

And he was not having a good day.

He had no doubt that his mate was conversing with the female. They had anchored themselves to the humans, allowing them to rest up should they wish to return to their world and time.

Not that he had a single clue how. He was as shocked as his mate that instead of a teleport that would be a few days' journey from the former temple, it had ended up into another world, and seriously drained for their troubles.

But Rokubi could understand that something had happened, and he knew he had a duty to his Lord as well as the human he was now anchored to, to inform him of what had occurred.

"Meow!"

Sadly, said human had shifted in the dream realm from a mortal human form to a cat-like mix, more of a cheetah-man, if he remembered the tales of his mortal brethren that he had heard of. And now said cheetah-man was hopping around a mental field, chasing mental butterflies.

"Why do I always get the problem cases," the Raiju/Bijuu growled. "Can't I ever have a normal human to converse with?"

With that, he leapt after the cheetah-man, determined to discover why the human had submerged his humanity for such a state, and then drag him back from it for a chat.

11321231321321231321321231321321321231321321321321321321321321321321231

Nabiki slowly woke up, her head feeling as if she was having a major hangover; reminding her of the one time she had desired to deal with a bad day of bets by consuming her father's stock of alcoholic beverages.

_I don't know whether or not to be upset. If whatever I drank made me have those dreams, I wonder what I did before I passed out. _

_Well, whoever was with me is bound to tell me the truth ... if they know what's best for them._

"Awake, I see."

She blinked, focusing on the voice. Eventually, she was able to make out an elderly man in robes, sitting beside a standing man, who had long scars across his face. "Um ... a little bit."

"Good," nodded the elderly man. "Perhaps you can tell us who you are."

"I'm Nabiki Tendo. Where am I?"

"Konoha Medical Corp," said the old man. "I am Hokage Sarutobi, and this is Morino Ibiki." The old man motioned to a man standing beside him with a face slightly scarred.

Nabiki nodded. "How can I help you?"

"We would like to know how you came to our little world," said Sarutobi. "It is not every day Bijuu come to us and ask that we watch over humans."

Nabiki blinked. She didn't have a clue what Bijuu were, but she did catch most of what they said. Apparently, she did not end up trapped inside the Black Hole, if that had not been a liquor induced dream. And if it wasn't, then someone must have snuck her some of her younger sister's cooking, for her to hallucinate this. "So they were real?" she asked, trying to buy time.

"What was real?" asked Ibiki. He didn't like the look of the girl; her entire body language just spoke of half-truths and deception.

"A five tailed Tanuki and a six tailed Neko?" she asked.

"We were hoping you might be able to explain that to us," said Sarutobi. "We do have a multitude of questions for those who were moved across space and time by gentle Bijuu."

Nabiki slowly nodded, her mind working quickly. She had to fight the urge to stick out her hand and demand some yen for any answers. While the old guy put out the appearance of a caring grandfather-type, she knew enough about such people in Nerima to recognize when they had serious power at their fingertips. And this guy was screaming out to that sense.

Not to mention the scarred man standing beside him, looking like a common thug, but even he didn't feel right to her. She caught a glimpse of his eyes. The guy was no mental-midget, there was a cold calculating mind behind those eyes. No, he was a cold man who was at least one level above her in how to deal with people.

So for once, she decided that telling the complete and unabridged truth would probably be the best course of action.

_Hell, a first time for everything, I guess._

123132132123123132123132132132132132132131321321321321321231321231321321

"So," said Sarutobi, as they left Nabiki's room, "what do you make of her story?"

"Truthful for the most part," said Ibiki, walking beside the Third Hokage. "But it is a little farfetched to believe. Bijuu sealed with a demon, a black hole sucking it away, ending up in another world."

"And yet it does support why they were never heard of before," said Sarutobi. "Bijuu from another world, saving humans and bringing them to our world through some cosmic accident... I must say while it is highly unusual, I find myself believing it."

"We still need to interrogate the other one," said Ibiki. "I would rather have confirmation before believing anything they say."

"Well, the male ... Ranma, I believe she called him, should still be recovering from chakra or 'ki' exhaustion," he said, looking over the notes he had had written down from the interview. He had heard rumors that chakra was called ki in some places. But they never invested much research into it. But given that Ranma's chakra seemed ... slightly off, it could explain much about how the abilities were related. And if the boy could learn to shift that same energy into chakra... They were definitely jounin-level reserves, perhaps even close to Kage-levels.

But perhaps he was getting too far ahead of himself. Who was to say the boy would stay?

"I do think she was not being completely honest about her relationship with the boy," said Ibiki.

"The engagement?"

The scarred ANBU nodded. "A deal with a family for him to marry her sister, and yet the engagement was passed to her for a while... And then to claim that they were close enough that she wanted to stay with him here..."

"I agree, not exactly a functional family unit, it would seem," said Sarutobi.

"If need be, I can ... improvise," smirked the ANBU.

"Perhaps," said the Hokage. His gentle spirit didn't mean he would hold on getting needed information if it held the chance of protecting the village. He might not want to do it, but it didn't mean he wouldn't.

"Anyway," he said, dismissing the topic for the moment—after all, the girl wasn't a ninja, and had very little to no chance of escaping the hospital—his mind switched to another topic, "I need to head off to the office of Medical Hospital Chiefs. They said they found something ... interesting in the blood-workups of the two. And Minato wants me there as well."

"Anything dangerous?"

"I doubt they would have delayed telling me if it was."

"With those guys, you never know," said Ibiki, as he left. He had the examination of the interview to go over, and to check for some mental techniques that he might be able to use to break the girl further if they needed it.

13213213213213213213213213132131321321321321123123131321321321213321321

"Excuse me?" asked Sarutobi, not believing his ears.

"Just what I said," said the medic-nin, Karada. "The boy shows an amazing high genetic similarity to Uchiha clan members, especially in relation to their bloodline."

"The boy can access Sharingan?" asked Minato, eyes wide.

"Not likely," said Karada. "While he had many of the needed genes, he doesn't have all of them. If I were to make a guess, I'd have to say that in his world, his lineage may be producing their version of it."

"If the Uchiha hear about this, they'll stop at nothing to get the boy married into their clan," said Sarutobi.

"And the girl?"

"Nowhere near the amount of genetic markers as the male," said Karada, going over his notes. "But she does have several markers as well."

"Great," muttered Minato. "So not only do we have to protect them from outsiders, but we need to keep this little secret from getting out as well?" He didn't like the way this was going. Even if the potential wasn't realized for generations, just the potential's existence would be enough to have the clan heads drooling. It was going to be hard enough on the two just because of how they had arrived. The newest Hokage didn't doubt for a moment that the news of how that had happened would have reached certain ears by now. That just wasn't a secret that could be kept.

This one however, would need to be. While not public knowledge, even he knew how family politics pushed for children to 'choose' an Uchiha. The same would probably happen to the children of the Hyuga clan, except the issues surrounding the Branch family put a damper on that.

And these two had no such family backing to help them, save the Fourth who had sworn to two very powerful Bijuu—or where they Raiju like the girl claimed?—to protect them from selfish interests. And the idea that they were possible Jinchuuriki would not divert them all. In fact, the possible power boost from that would only serve to entice them further.

"This is classified to the highest level," said Minato, "on penalty of death. When the two are healed, we will discuss it with them then. But until then, I don't want anyone outside this room to know what we have discovered. I want every bit of information you have on this, blood samples and all, brought here to be secured."

Karada was a bit hesitant. After all, this was career-making news. But he also valued his life, and the phrase 'penalty of death' wasn't exactly something a Hokage threw around lightly. "As you wish," he said, quickly departing the office. He hadn't even had time to tell them about something else odd about the male's cells. But there were still several tests waiting on that. Luckily those didn't involve those sections of the DNA now restricted. _Hopefully, I can get public credit for something out of this._

"I think I'll beef up security around the two," mumbled Minato. "Somehow, I worry that this secret already has gotten out."

He had no idea how truly right he was.

1321321321321213321321321321321321132213211321321231321213132132132

It had been by bare luck alone that he had stumbled across the paperwork about the two newcomers to the village. Even more so the whispers by several of the Jounin, who returned from their mission with the newly proclaimed Hokage, had alerted him to the possibility that they might even possess an unknown Bijuu.

Oh, the chance for money was ripe in the air. How many villages would pay for them? Connections to a Bijuu, possible developing bloodline limit?

He would have to act quickly though. He had no doubt that others had heard of either bit of news, maybe even both sets of news, as he had.

Funuke wasn't a member of any major clan, nor a skilled shinobi. It was one of the major reasons why he went into the medical fields. After all, doctors and nurses had less chance of being sent into a danger zone than a simple Chuunin.

But pay was lousy, and chances of advancement kept slipping through his fingers. His newest supervisor was ten years his junior!

So perhaps it was time to go into a new line of work. Surely a prize such as one of the two would be more than enough to set him up well. He heard that Moon Country was beautiful all year long. And it wasn't like there would be a long search needed to find a village that would pay. No, the only problem on that front would be making sure one got paid, and one didn't end up dead from the deal by the other party. After all, funds for such a ... purchase ... were not going to be small. Many would either have to send a messenger to their Lord to get the funds—as if any Lord of any country would not jump at the chance to add such to their ninja village—or raid their funds to near poverty levels. No, he'd have to choose those carefully.

But he also needed a target. Both were good. If a true Bijuu did reside within them, or some other type of powerful entity, then it could only serve to enhance their bloodline. There had been tales of some Jinchuuriki who had been bred. And while the stories on the results of such swung wildly with half truths and outright lies, they did show great promise, perhaps such having been the cause of the development of kekkei genkai.

And if one of them did have the potential for Sharingan, one of the most desired bloodlines, what would a Bijuu-boosted progeny produce?

"But which one?" he mumbled. After all, he couldn't be greedy. Sneaking one out was dangerous enough, forget two.

The male was obviously the better choice. His genetics were far closer to achieving the prized kekkei genkai than the girl. As such, he would fetch a higher price.

But he would also be more heavily guarded. Add to that the files showing the boy was already very powerful... No, taking the boy would be foolish and too risky. Even if he could use the special genjutsus he knew to break the boy's spirit so he could be easily transported.

No, the girl would be an easy choice. Her room could be easier accessed than the boy's, and she could easily be sneaked out. Given the fact she was not suffering from a form of chakra exhaustion—and thus less likely to die by a pitiful means during the trek to sell her off—made her the best investment.

Smirking, he just had one thing left to figure out: how to get her out of the room without the ANBU guard noticing his kidnapping her or her missing.

1231321321321231321231321321231321321321321321321321321321321321321312

It took patience to wait for the right guards to be posted. Teams were almost a set pattern for ninjas in Konoha. With the exception of high-priority missions, one's team rarely changed, and that one team would be your main group for years or decades to come.

He had a special team in mind, one whom he had worked on several times in their recovery from missions. After all, one never knew when he might need an ANBU group to 'miss' spotting him. It took years of work, since one slipup meant you were then interrogated by those ANBU.

After that team took guard duty on the girl's room, he simply 'slipped' a drug into a critical-care patient's IV. After all, if a critical-care patient suddenly went into cardiac arrest, no one would be too suspicious. But it would divert a large amount of attention away from everything else, especially if the person was important in some way.

Waiting for the medical personnel to rush past his location, he sent a mild chakra spike towards the guarding ANBU team members—one at the door and two outside the window. He had a window of only a few minutes at best before the new blind-spot he had placed in their minds faded away, and with it, any signs of mental tampering or seals. After all, you should never leave them with the how.

Quickly stealing himself into the room, and as quietly as possible—just because the ANBU were blinded to him didn't mean everyone else was—he made his way to the patient, smirking at the fact she was sleeping. Holding up rope made by ANBU to reduce the abilities of captured foes to use chakra by disrupting it, he delivered a quick sedative to her, before her eyes could even open in shock.

He had hoped it would be this easy, perhaps even luck would favor him and allow him to get the boy. But that child had a second ANBU team covering him, and he had only supported the one guarding the female now.

"Oh well, the money will more than make up for it."

123131231321321321321321321321321321231321321321321321321321321321321

Funuke dropped the bound girl to the forest floor, glad to be rid of her weight for the moment. She may not have been heavy, but he had used a good bit of chakra to both hide their presence, and to expedite their escape into the surrounding forests.

Nabiki was beginning to come around herself, the drugs slipped to her starting to finally burn off due to changes she herself was yet to be made aware of.

"Awake I see."

Her eyes slowly focused on the source of the voice, as her body was already telling her that movement was not much of an option for the moment. She could only glare at the man who had tied her up like that. _I really wish Akane was here, this is her shtick._

"You're going to make me very rich, you know that?"

_Why do these bad guys always have to explain their plans? I mean, even on a new world, are their egos always in the need of stroking?_

"But I can't have you ... resisting."

Nabiki cocked her head to the side. How was he going to keep her from resisting? Tying the victim up as tightly as she was bound was always a good start. Threats? Obviously, not a bright boy, in her opinion.

He smirked as he lowered himself so he could stare in her eyes. "One good thing about research, never a shortage of subjects when you need to test a new genjutsu."

Nabiki blinked slightly at that, not understanding the term. After all, odd phrases like that had always been Ranma's problem to learn.

"Let me show you my own version of Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu," he said with a smirk. "Trust me; it will be a ... personable experience." Plus, it would give him time to poke around and not only discover if she had a Bijuu inside of her, but what she knew about it as well.

Nabiki almost snorted, before her world shot into pure pain.

132132123132132132132132132132132132132132132131321321321321321321312

"**They have taken her!"**

Ranma winced a bit, coming forcibly into the waking world by a loud yell. "Huh? Wazzit?"

"**THEY HAVE TAKEN HER!"** yelled the voice.

He winced again. "Who got taken?"

"**My mate, your female friend! Can you not sense their distress? Can you not feel their pain?"**

Ranma slowly sat up, hissing slightly as his body shifted. Looking around, he noticed he was in some hospital room, and that a few people were around the outside of it. Who was the voice talking about?

He grabbed his head as an image thrust itself to the forefront of his mind painfully. **"This girl!"**

He saw the smirking face of Nabiki.

"Damn it," he muttered. If Nabiki was in danger, despite how much he might have liked to let her have a taste of the pain she often took amusement in and caused to happen to others, he knew it wasn't right.

That and Mr. Tendo would have his ass.

"**Save them now and you shall be rewarded, fail in this quest, and punishment shall be yours!"**

Ranma sighed. Great, even voices in his head were threatening him now and demanding he do something. "I can't catch a break."

Heading over to a nearby window, he opened it and took off, never even noticing the surprised looks of the Jounin guards as he took off at a high rate of speed, following where he could sense Nabiki's aura coming from.

132132123132132132132132132112332132132132132113213213213213213212311

The Rokubi no Neko growled as it dumped what little remained of its available energy into the host body, causing it to glow a golden blue, fueling the quest to seek the container of its mate.

It had taken much energy already to awaken the tired warrior, his own energy needing more time than available to even be conscious, let alone seek the troubled woman and her kidnapper.

But it was not without its own dangers, even if he had not mentioned it to his host. Raiju were beings of energy given form, and one could not use that energy without succumbing to that form's will.

And if not careful, the will of the form would overcome the will of the host.

The only outward sign of it occurring was the sign of the wild aura about the pigtailed boy slowly shifting ... and taking the form of a running creature.

1321321321321321321321321321312321321321321321321321321321321321321123

"STOP IT!" cried Nabiki, as she tried to stand, the rush of images tearing into her psyche.

"Tell me what I want to know!" demanded the fake-Kasumi. "Tell me and I will make it all better."

"Worthless whore!" yelled fake-Soun, as he backhanded Nabiki, sending her across the room. "You'll give up anything for a price, won't you? You would sell you family, your honor... I bet you've even sold yourself!"

Nabiki cringed, trying to block the voices out. She knew they weren't real, couldn't be real. These weren't the people she knew, she played like a puppet master. Her father was a weak fool who could never pull off the stuff this one was. Her sister never had a sinister smirk as she demanded answers for questions she never asked.

She struggled against the images, against the emotions they seemed to unleash at her, despite her attempts to throw them off. Even if it wasn't supposed to be real, even if she knew it wasn't real, it sure as hell felt real. Every punch, every slap, every poke, even the stench of their breathes felt real to her senses.

What was going on? Why was this happening to her? How come none of those goody-goody martial artists were coming to help her? She had lost track of how long she had been in this Hell, her mind just trying to fight away the demons as they reached into her, creating more fear, self-loathing, anger, and a host of other emotions that she tried to stomp on.

More of the fake people appeared, surrounding her. Their voices continued to grow, drowning out her thoughts, as she fell to the ground once more, covering her ears, even though it offered no respite from the screams.

_Please..._

_Please make it stop..._

_Please, someone, anyone ... make it stop!_

"**So now you grow?"**

She paused a bit, hearing that strange voice again. Nabiki slowly opened her eyes, expecting to see the raging faces of those images that had been tormenting her, only to find herself ... surrounded by darkness, a light upon her, as if she was a lone actor, receiving the full spotlight on the stage.

"**Time is short, and that fool will soon notice that the you he is tormenting is not the true you."**

Nabiki blinked slowly. "I don't understand."

"**Somehow, the tormentor is peaking inside your head, trying to locate either myself, or something to use against the male who saved you."**

Nabiki cringed a bit. _Great, I got dragged into this by Ranma-baby._

"**This happened because of greed much like your own, not because of any association with your friend,"** spat out the voice. **"But I can help you, but this act of kindness is not without cost. I will need your word that you will do one favor for me. Do you accept?"**

"Depends on what the favor is," said Nabiki, enough of her old habits leaking in to her disarrayed mind to keep her from making a blind promise. After all, such fool's acts were what others did, not her. She always wanted to know what she was in for when she made any deal.

"**Smart ... I like you, human. Very well, we shall leave the favor for debate ... for now. But I do believe we have an intruder to deal with."**

With those words, the Gobi no Tanuki slowly faded into a fiery light, as it flowed over Nabiki's form.

1321213321231321321321321321321321321321231321321321321321321321321

"**GET ... OUT!"**

Funuke found himself literally thrown away from the girl, the genjutsu breaking from the massive wave of energy. "What ... what the hell was that?" he gasped, his body winded from the surge and poor attempt he had made to maintain the jutsu, a aura quickly surrounding the girl, before she collapsed to the ground.

"**My mate defending her home."**

He turned around, tossing several kunai at the voice, exploding tags trailing them to add further injury.

But they disappeared into the shadows of the woods, no explosion going off.

"**Nice little tricks, you have, ninja,"** came the cold voice. **"If those had actually done anything, I might have been ... delayed in killing you."**

Before Funuke could even wonder what the hell was going on, a golden blue aura appeared before him, a smirking male—the very one he had been unable to procure due to the heavier guard—was standing before him, holding all of the tossed kunai, the explosive tags dangling uselessly below them.

But the image was far from normal. The eyes ... the pupils were slitted, like that of a wild animal. The aura surrounding him did not appear universal—surrounding him equally from every angle. No, it was forming a shape ... a shape of a cat, a multitude of tails standing straight, the cat aura appearing to be ready to pounce on him. "What the hell are you?" cried out the man, as he tried to back away from the demon.

"**Your executioner,"** smirked the figure, raising an arm, an act mirrored by the cat-aura. **"For hurting her, for endangering my mate, DIE!"**

No name for the attack was called, no sign whether or not it had come from the aura-cat's extended paw, or the extended hand of the human. All that Funuke knew was that a ball of chaotic energy had shot forth from that area, and before he could move, before he could even think of countering the attack, it had already lanced through him, ripping through his chest, causing pain to scream out in his mind, as his corpse fell to the ground.

1321321313213132132131213211321321321321321321231321321231321321321321

The ANBU group who had followed the speedy man looked on in shock. Only those that had ever witnessed the Fourth Hokage or Jiraiya use the Rasengan could even fathom such an attack. They had arrived only to catch the last bit of the slaughter.

But they showed no fear, maintained their quiet, even as the cat-aura-man looked at them.

"**Return these two to your hospital, but keep them together,"** it said in a fading voice, before it winked away, and the figure it had encompassed collapsed to the ground unconscious once more.

The ANBU hopped to the forest floor, being careful not to arouse any suspicion.

"No one's going to believe this," said the monkey-masked ANBU.

"Let's just get them back," said the hawk-masked ANBU. "Too bad about Funuke; I know Ibiki would have loved to question him."

131321321321321321321321321321321231321321321321321321321321231323132

_A few hours later..._

"Nabiki?" asked Ranma. After he had finally come to, and still feeling exhausted, he went to her side, wanting to make sure she was okay. Sure, she had been a general pain in the ass from Day One, but he didn't want to see her seriously injured.

The brown-haired girl sat on the medical bed, head setting on her knees, staring out the window. She appeared to not hear him, not even having a clue how she had returned to the medical room, nor the mental state to notice such.

"Nabiki?"

"Saotome?" came the weak reply.

"The Doc said you'll be okay," said Ranma, cautiously approaching the Tendo girl. "That genjutsu attack didn't permanently scramble anything."

"Doesn't change what I went through," she replied, her eyes still focused on the window.

Ranma stayed quiet for a bit, unsure what he was supposed to do at a time like this. "You gonna be okay?"

"I had a lunatic enter my head and torture me with my own thoughts, memories, and fears. I'm just going to be peachy, Ranma," she growled out. "How the fuck do you think I feel?"

"Probably like me after I wake up from the Nekoken," he said jokingly.

"This is nothing like that," she spat out. "I didn't wake up on someone's lap, afraid of what I'd done when I was out of it. I had some freak mess with my head, attack me, demean me..." she trailed off, her eyes taking on a more haunted look.

"Did he—"

"No," she quickly added. "He ... he just played with me, like a cat with a mouse," she whispered, not even noticing that Ranma had failed to twitch when she said the c-word.

"I don't feel exposed, Saotome," she said. "I make others feel that, I control others. I'm not the victim!" she yelled out.

But the fury died as quickly as it was expressed, her head returning to being buried in her legs.

"Nabiki," he asked, trying to look at her hidden face. "Are ya ... crying?"

"Shut up, Saotome," she said, though her voice was uncertain.

"Um..." he added, unsure what to do. True be told, he did wonder if Nabiki could ever seem weak. Here, as in their world, she seemed beyond him at times, using her brain to often do more damage than his own attacks could. How could she seem so ... defenseless, weak?

But his thoughts were stopped when a huge weight slammed into him, forcing him onto the floor. "Wha—"

"Saotome," came the quiet voice of the new weight, causing him to look down his chest and see that Nabiki now had him in a glomp of Amazon proportions. "Ranma ... just ... just hold me for a bit, okay?"

Ranma nodded slowly, as he gently held her, wishing he knew what he was supposed to do, as he heard the ice finally crack, and the former Queen sob loudly.

121321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321321231321321

"So," said Minato, as he looked over the ANBU report on the incident, Sarutobi sitting off to the side, "does Ranma remember?"

"No sir," said the ANBU agent, his mask that of a bird. "The cat-like persona and aura vanished, leaving him unconscious. When he awoke, he kept asking if we had recovered Ms. Tendo. He had no memories of killing the traitor nin, nor his actions leading up to it."

"Very good," said Minato, "leave, and inform the rest of the team that this is not to be discussed, and of the highest secrecy."

"Yes sir," said the ANBU nin, before he vanished.

"It would appear that the Bijuu are still connected to them," said Sarutobi.

"It overshadowed Ranma's main personality to do so," said Minato. "It took over, and it killed the ninja."

"So did the tanuki inside Nabiki," said Sarutobi. "I want to know though, why did it not act when she was being tortured with that genjutsu."

"I don't know," said Minato. "Perhaps they are still weak. Until it happened, we didn't even have any proof that they were even connected to those strange Bijuu that brought them here."

"It was still strong enough to vaporize that ninja," said Sarutobi.

"It used Ranma's power to do so," said Minato. "If they are relying on the power of the two until their own returns, it would explain why the tanuki did not take over to protect Nabiki; it was still too weak. It waited until Ranma arrived to finish the job. It apparently had just enough energy to kick him out of her mind, and no more. It knew what would happen."

"So the cat Bijuu inside Saotome..."

"Offered no forgiveness or mercy to the one that harmed his mate, or at least, that's what it said," said Minato.

"A cat Bijuu dating a tanuki Bijuu," sighed Sarutobi, rubbing his forehead. "Glad I'm not the one that has to deal with this."

132123131223132132132132132132132132132131321321321321321132231

"Report," said Danzo, as he stood within the secret meeting room of his 'former' organization known as Root.

"The blood serums were injected while they were being examined," said the bear-masked ninja.

"Good," said Danzo, as he dismissed the ninja. As the man vanished, the elderly man let a smile form on his face.

A man never placed all of his hopes and dreams within one basket, as it were. While the Uchiha were very generous to him, even allowing him entrance into their organization, he didn't doubt for a moment that they would betray him if the mood suited them.

But the two newcomers, those who might have mysterious ties to previously unknown Bijuu, who had DNA markers that showed potential for Sharingan... He would be a fool not to take advantage of the situation. He was certain that as soon as the Uchiha found out about the potential, the clan would try their hardest to get both Saotome and Tendo into it, even if the Tendo girl's potential was minimal. That minimal potential alone was almost a guarantee that if she bred with an Uchiha, the child would have a better chance of having the Sharingan bloodline.

He knew he had to be careful though. If the Uchiha suspected he had used some of their blood stores to do this, he could very well awaken to the afterlife one day. The Uchiha Elders were ruthless in their ways.

It was the reason he respected them so; respected, not feared.

The serum would use some medical science to help 'strengthen' the bloodline within the two travelers. At the very least, it might allow the Saotome male to actually access the gift within his lifetime. If not, it all but ensured his children would have more potential to call upon it than him.

But it was a huge chance. The serum might not produce any results for days to if ever. Until then, he would bide his time with the Uchiha. They already seemed to have a long-term plan in the works, something that had been attempted once before by them if he could interpret their words correctly, by an Uchiha named Madara.

"Time to see which way is the correct path for the Root of Konoha to follow," he mumbled, as he headed from the room. He had a meeting to get to at the Nakano Shrine and the Uchiha did not appreciate tardiness.


	3. Wrong Side of Reality Part 2

**Shinobi One-Half**

**Chapter 3**

**Waking Up on the Wrong Side of Reality Part 2**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

* * *

Minato Namikaze; the Fourth Hokage, sat at his desk, the darkness of the night having long since came to the village, betraying to him how long this particular problem had been bothering him. While he didn't mind working late—as long as he didn't have to get up early—he was more focused on one strange task. After all, he could use Kage Bushins to take care of the paper work, so it wasn't the daily grind of being the head of the village that was bothering him.

You learned early on that it was pretty much the only solid Bushin you could use without destroying said paperwork.

But right now, he was focused on his task: training of the newest members of the village: Nabiki Tendo and Ranma Saotome. While both had expressed interest in the training—Nabiki's interest most likely due to her torture by the dead nin who kidnapped her—it wasn't as easy as sending them to the Academy. Both were much too old to attend the Academy, not without being seriously out of place with the other students, who usually varied in age from eight to thirteen. Even if they did go and graduate, their age alone would throw off team dynamics, since they would be deemed team leaders by age alone. Social issues alone would cause problems, not to mention feelings of self-hatred that you were unable to get concepts that small children could grasp.

No one liked to feel like an idiot.

No, for them, the best thing would be private tutors, people who could spend the time to teach them as well as give them the personal attention needed to cram four years of training in as quickly as possible. It had been done before, usually though by the major clans and only then by those who hadn't been able to attend the Academy for some medical reason.

But who could he get to teach them? Who would be able to teach a young woman who had barely any taijutsu training and nothing else, to be a ninja? Who would teach a boy who seemed to wield a power similar yet different from chakra and was already damn near a taijutsu master, to be a ninja worthy of the Leaf?

A smile began to grow on his face as the perfect two people came to mind. "Oh yes, payback's a bitch."

Smiling in self-satisfaction, he turned in the chair, spotting the time.

"Shit," he muttered, paling as he saw the time. Gulping, he sank into the chair, hoping the 'special woman' he was supposed to meet secretly that night at Training Ground 7 wouldn't kill him before he could apologize for missing said meeting.

_Kushina's scary when she's mad._

* * *

Nabiki slowly opened her eyes, the early morning sun seemingly targeting her face as it peered through the window. _I thought I shut those last night. Saotome probably opened them for a breeze._

Closing her eyes, she pulled the covers on the medical bed up higher, making a mental note that whenever they moved out of here, she was going to make sure that the room she chose didn't have the sun streaming through the windows either going up into the sky or down into the horizon.

She was going to miss the giant teddy bear she'd been with the last few days as she recovered, though. At least Ranma had been able to offer her some comfort—as long as she made sure he kept his mouth closed enough to prevent his foot from entering it. It was almost like he was cursed to ruin some moods at times. Of course, that was more likely to be the result of his father's influence for a decade.

Nabiki hadn't really been up to sleeping alone after her abduction. She still had the occasional nightmare—occasional being that they only woke her up less than three times the last few nights. They did seem to dwindle more when she had Ranma holding her. Sure, it was pretty stupid—it wasn't like he could pop into her dreams and support her, but it did provide some sort of security.

No snoring from the teddy, less haunting nightmares, and a fresh target prepared for her teasing when she woke up. What more could she ask for?

"**Well, it's a start, I suppose."  
**

Oh yeah, she had a five-tailed tanuki Bijuu/Raiju/whatever the hell it was in her body. _Do you have a name?_

"**I was once referred to as the Gobi no Tanuki when your ancestors gazed upon me in ancient times."**

Nabiki sighed softly, wondering if she was perhaps too jaded because of Kuno or perhaps it was just that the tanuki's comment had sounded slightly pompous.

"**It's just you."**

Nabiki cringed at that._You hear all my thoughts, don't you?_

A dark feminine chuckle rang through her mind. **"I reside in you, my dear. Your thoughts are quite the open book to me."**

_What about your secrets?_

"**I have much more experience in separating my thoughts from those of others, a must for any Raiju. After all, beings of energy must be able to tell our own thought from another's if we become entwined."**

Nabiki had the sudden image of Evangelion pop up in her head.

"**Not exactly a correct analogy, but it does represent a close enough situation. Strange creation, this ... anime."**

Nabiki just shook her head. _Great, so I need the mental equivalent of an AT Field to keep my thoughts my own._

"**Right ... or you could ask me not to read your mind constantly."**

She fought hard not to let her eye twitch. _Don't read my thoughts._

"**I will try, but you have little in the way of a wall to prevent me from such, even if I wanted to."**

_Then why did you say I just should ask you?_

"**To show you what you need to work on, my dear."**

She failed to defeat the twitch this time. _I wonder if Ranma-kun has this problem._

* * *

Said person was wondering something similar. His current situations were not his usual dreams. The current scene did not include a massive all powerful fight with some fighting series anime character, fields of food, or him easily beating his rivals.

Thankfully, it did not include the things of nightmares, such as certain idiotic kendoists proclaiming their love or forever being trapped as a girl.

All it was, was a simple plot of land, surrounded by a spotlight, with only unending darkness surrounding him. "Well ... this is new," he muttered, wondering which 'acquaintance' added this new dimension to his life or if he had finally bought it.

"**I thought it best."**

Ranma spun around. Either someone had hit him hard enough to hear voices or … or this was some final judgment before his soul was sent on. "Great, probably killed in my sleep, uncute tomboy probably found Nabiki cuddled up to me and jumped the gun."

"**As amusing as your guesses are, neither one is correct."**

"Okay then," said Ranma, continuing to try and peer into the darkness for any sign of movement, his other senses extended as well, trying to make some sense of what was going on.

"**I have muted what you can sense here, child," **said the voice. **"I do not wish a repeat of our last encounter, progress should happen sooner rather than later."**

"What encounter?" asked Ranma, not retracting his senses. Thanks to his 'training' under his father, he knew one fact: people who didn't want you looking usually had something very good to hide, and it was usually best if you knew what that something was.

"**I tried to contact you earlier when we arrived here," **said the voice. **"However, you reacted … badly to my presence, you began to act like a small cat."**

Ranma cringed at that. Just his luck some … voice would try to talk to him and knock him into a Nekoken mindset. "I … didn't trash anything, did I?"

"**We were in your mind at the time, and I was able to calm that mindset down before you awoke to the real world, thus no chance of that mindset rampaging in reality."**

Ranma released a breath, before his eyes shot open. "Hey, that was you! You were the one that woke me up and helped me find that jerk who took Nabiki!"

**"Yes, that was I,"** admitted the voice.

"Okay then, what happened?" asked Ranma. "I want to know, cause one minute I saw the jackass who took her, and the next… Well, I don't really know."

"**For that, I cannot be certain,"** said the voice, though the unease it felt about the topic came through. **"To be honest, I am not certain what mindset was in control after that. It may have been a mixture of all present. But needless to say that her attacker was eliminated. He will not threaten an innocent again."**

Ranma paused for a bit. He didn't like killing—something he hoped to never like. But he didn't even remember doing it. Focusing his mind, he tried to isolate a memory, a sliver of thought—something he had plenty of practice doing considering he either had to try and recall or listen to second-hand accounts.

"_What the hell are you?" cried out the man, as he tried to back away from the demon._

"_**Your executioner,"**__ smirked the figure, raising an arm, an act mirrored by the cat-aura. __**"For hurting her, for endangering my mate, DIE!"**_

_No name for the attack was called, no sign whether or not it had come from the aura-cat's extended paw, or the extended hand of the human. All that Funuke knew was that a ball of chaotic energy had shot forth from that area, and before he could move, before he could even think of countering the attack, it had already lanced through him, ripping through his chest, causing pain to scream out in his mind, as his corpse fell to the ground._

Ranma's eyes snapped wide at that. That… That wasn't him, was it?

"**To protect the ones we care for, the ones we treasure, many would gladly die for them. How many would kill for them?"**

Ranma baulked at that. Him? And Nabiki? "Yep that settles it; someone killed me in my sleep and this is Hell. Any minute now, I'll change to a girl and Kuno will show up and say we're married."

"… **Are you finished?"**

"Getting there," said Ranma, rubbing his forehead.

"**As a balance is reached, we might even bridge this issue, as well as your … other issues."**

"Other issues?"

"**The reason you went from talking to me to chasing an imaginary butterfly,"** the voice replied.

Ranma stared down sheepishly. "I'm getting better," he muttered. And it was true. He didn't really 'cat' out unless some really big cats were nearby, or he let himself do it. So then the question came to be: what was it that set him off the last time.

And then it hit him harder than a tomboy. That statue, that Raiju! Shoulders sinking, Ranma had to sigh. What was it with his luck that he got stuck with a giant cat Raiju? If anything would trigger the Nekoken instantly, he was pretty sure that was it. It wasn't like he had any way to work up to dealing with something like that.

"**Tell me child, why do you fear cats?"** it asked, almost like it knew the reason.

Ranma wanted to growl out he wasn't afraid of anything ... well, anything short of being locked in his cursed form. "Nekoken," he said quietly, almost a whisper.

"**I see,"** said the voice. **"I have seen many versions of it in my long life, Ranma. Many versions that share very little of the truth of the technique."**

Ranma blinked. "You mean you know how to fix it? I can use it without freaking out?" True, it was a powerful technique, one that had saved his ass many times. But what good was it if he needed to either be out of options or near a cat to scare him into it? What good was it without control?

"**In time," **the voice continued. **"In truth, unless your soul was looked over by a cat spirit, the training itself is supposed to be deadly."**

"WHAT?" yelled Ranma.

"**Spirits from the other side, animals of all sorts, mingle with the souls of man. One of the requirements for the Nekoken is that the soul spirit inside the tested must be feline. If any other spirit reside as a spirit guide, then the person will be driven insane, murderous, and slay all that it sees. The fact your spirit is feline allowed you to survive and even have some freedom from the cursed variants."**

Ranma was shocked, his heart rate rising. He had a cat spirit inside him, one that was the only reason he wasn't some blood crazed killer like what Kasumi had said a true berserker was like? Sure, the spirit inside him didn't freak him out too much; his mind more worried about the fear of losing himself to the technique and being consumed by it.

That was something he truly feared.

"**It shows you have made progress against the madness that you fear becoming it."**

He almost preened at those words of praise. Okay, so he had a cat inside him somewhere near his soul. He could live with that, if the blasted furball kept him from being consumed by the Nekoken and ending up like those berserkers Kasumi talked about.

"**But you have a long way yet to go. To master the technique, even the flawed teachings of it, you would need to master your fear."**

Ranma nodded sagely, trying to grasp what was said. So there was a way to master the technique and not be scared with cats, and the strange voice in the darkness said he knew it. "And how do I master it?" he asked. He felt he was already near mastering it, given his last year in Nerima. He could stand being near a few cats; hell, he'd even tapped a bit into it against Saffron. Surely he could finish it now.

"**That will take time,"** the voice said. **"It will not be an easy road, but when you are better recovered, come to see me, and we shall discuss it further."**

Ranma growled angrily. "And why not now? I'm ready ta start now!" he proclaimed.

"**Because you need to wake up now,"** the voice replied with a self- assured sound.

"Huh?"

* * *

"Wake up, Saotome."

The pigtailed boy moaned a bit, as his conscious mind returned to the waking world. Granted, he was a bit upset about being dragged away from someone who could teach him to master a technique that still haunted him. "What is it, Nabiki?" he asked, making certain he wasn't holding her too tightly. He was well used to her sneaking into his bed due to her nightmares, and despite his instincts telling him not to, he could never deny her that request.

"Minato's supposed to come by today after the doctors check us out," she said. In a way, she felt a bit surprised that she was actually looking forward to some training. But she didn't want to be weak here. In Nerima, weak meant either you didn't fight with your body or you didn't fight with your mind, both being weapons to be used in the daily battles, each of which a master could use to be a victor.

Here, it wasn't one or the other, it was both that one needed to survive. And despite her wishes, both she and Ranma were severely lacking in areas; him in the abilities for mental fights, and her in the abilities for physical fights. And while her ... attacker had used a mental technique, part of her was convinced had she been physically stronger, maybe she wouldn't have been placed in that situation, maybe she wouldn't have been targeted.

She knew it was some form of insane guilt and self hatred brought on by the attack; a person who used head games enough could spot them even when they applied to themselves.

Of course, knowing you had a problem and dealing with it effectively were two completely different things. She suspected on some level, Saotome knew this. He had to; since he had yet to throw the usual fits he did when a fiancée snuck into his room. It was hard enough to convince him not to sleep inside the closets after Ukyo had snuck in one time and super-glued his hand to her breast in an attempt to drill into his mind the fact that his 'ole buddy Ucchan' was **not** a guy.

But yet now, he did nothing, just held her as she slept, doing what she requested. He didn't hold her too tightly, didn't snore. Hell, he didn't even get soaked from a leaky roof or attacked in the middle of the night.

_I shouldn't feel like I need to be protected._

"**We all need to be comforted at times; there is no weakness in such. It is a feature that defines us as more than simple beasts."**

She could only mentally snort at that. While it felt nice to be protected, she wasn't foolish enough to assume she shouldn't know how to protect herself.

"**That, my child, is the true sign of a new beginning for you."**

* * *

Jiraiya just sighed as he walked through the Hokage Tower, making his way to see his former student. It wasn't that he was upset about being summoned officially, or that he was angry that his former student had sent a summons only fit for a genin, let alone had it delivered by a new genin.

No, it was the fact that said genin had been accompanied by several female ANBU, ANBU who hated a certain book that a certain Legendary Sannin published and had been in the middle of ... researching.

"The brat still causes his old teacher problems," grumbled the white-haired man.

"It seems to be quite the Konoha tradition," stated a nearby voice.

Blinking, Jiraiya turned and spotted his own former Sensei. "Sarutobi-sensei; what are you doing here? I thought you retired?" he asked with a smirk, noticing a small bit of an orange book sticking out of the former Hokage's robes. "Looking for someplace quiet to read, perhaps?"

Sarutobi just coughed nervously, as he adjusted the book better inside his robes. "Actually, I was summoned here by Minato," he said, a slight embarrassed blush on his face at being caught like he had. "I wondered why he had asked me here, though seeing you as well does expand my ideas for that."

"Ah, both of you made it?" said Minato with a smile, walking over to the two.

"Didn't give me much choice, brat," grumbled Jiraiya, rubbing his chin, remembering a vicious uppercut that one of the ANBU had thrown and connected with._ She hit almost as hard as Tsunade did._

"Well Sensei, I did need to make certain you came," Minato said with an oh-so-innocent smile. "And since I do not currently know where Tsunade-hime is at, I figured a few of the more ... distinguished ANBU might be a better choice.

"Besides, I have a proposition for you."

"Oh?" asked Jiraiya. "And what do you have to offer one such as me?"

Minato just smirked. "I have two students needing some of the best teachers. As such, I gathered the best ... available teachers here," he mused.

Sarutobi just chuckled, lighting his pipe. "In other words, you need someone to take personal time with our new arrivals?"

Minato just nodded, even as Jiraiya began to look confused. "I have got a good idea about their levels, but I want to make certain before I ask you to train them."

"Who are they?" asked Jiraiya.

"You don't know?" asked Sarutobi, both in a bit of surprise that his usually knowledgeable student hadn't heard anything yet from the gossip, and in his usual Sensei voice, glad he still knew a few things his pupil didn't.

"Just some rumors," said Jiraiya. "A nin killed before he could escape, some weird energy, and new arrivals that seemed to come with one hell of a recommendation," he mused. He paused a bit, before narrowing his eyes. "I thought I recognized that kunoichi."

Minato nodded. "I figured you would be close by to watch my being named the Fourth Hokage. I just needed to create a tease to keep you hanging around."

"You had them talk about it in the baths," Jiraiya mused, nodding in understanding. "And she hit me so hard because...?"

"You were a pervert, Ero-Sennin," mused the blond, as he turned around. Ignoring the growl from his teacher, Minato motioned for them to follow. "Let's go see how Ranma does with his test."

"I take it you won't be testing the girl?" asked Sarutobi.

Minato shook his head. "No; she's already accurately stated her level of skills—as little as they are, which is why I'm hoping you can start her training. Someone who could teach and create the Legendary Sannin should be able to help her become a ninja."

"The girl?" asked Jiraiya.

"Do you really think I'd trust an eighteen year old girl with you, Sensei?" asked Minato innocently. "No; I figure your teaching style would be perfect for the young man."

"And this test?" said the white-haired frog hermit, rubbing his forehead, feeling as if a huge rock was coming at him.

"Only a simple test to see how what he knows stacks against what we know."

* * *

"Yosh!" cried Maito Gai, his smile focused on Kakashi. "My eternal rival, I too have achieved the rank of Jounin!"

Kakashi blinked, before staring at the Azure Beast of Konoha. "You say something?"

Rin just sighed from her place on the sideline. "He's here too?"

Minato just smiled. "I needed some who has a high ranking in Taijutsu, and he's one of the best."

"My eternal rival, shall we have our challenge?" yelled Gai. "If I lose, I shall do five hundred laps around Konoha. If I fail that, I shall do one hundred laps while doing squat thrusts!"

Ranma just blinked from his seat. "Um ... is that guy ... well ... right in the head?"

"Reminds me of that one physical education teacher we had last year," muttered Nabiki. She was just glad he had run away before her class, such activities were not something she wanted to be dragged into.

Ranma slowly nodded. "Yeah, just about the same attitude," he mused. "Well, minus the weird ideas of what he will do for losing."

"Okay then," said Minato, clapping his hands to gather their attention. "We have a simple plan today to test Ranma Saotome's current skill levels. Now Ranma, while your responses are not limited to any particular style," he stated, watching a bemused smirk form on the pigtailed boy's face, "the same is not true for your three opponents for this test. Maito Gai is limited to Taijutsu, Kakashi Hatake is limited to Ninjutsu, and Kurenai Yuhi will be limited to Genjutsu.

"I will stress again that this is only a test, which means I want the conflict to go on a rising scale. The result is that I will have a fuller understanding of what our new friend here is capable of. And the test spars end when I say so or Saotome loses consciousness."

Nabiki leaned over to whisper into Ranma's ear, her mind already decided on something. "Better use your father's sealed techniques as well."

Ranma blinked, before he turned to her. "But I promised to seal those," he hissed.

Nabiki just shook her head. "No you didn't. Ryu promised to seal them if he lost, you promised to give him the Umisenken scroll; you never once promised to seal them."

He blinked at her words, as the knowledge slower filtered into his mind. If he could use them...

As a smile formed on his face, he nodded happily. It was just too bad he didn't realize that beforehand. Being invisible in Nerima would have helped him out a lot. Sure, the Yamasenken would be useful here if nothing else, but he was really going to have to work on the Umisenken first. Part of him wondered how far he could take it.

But here in this world, it was more likely he'd have to work on either relearning or remaking the Yamasenken first, given the nature of conflicts here.

"Combatants, take your positions," said Minato.

Gai leapt across the field, landing before jumping to full attention. "Come Ranma-san, let us explode in Youth, and show the fires that burn within us in honorable combat!" With that said, he slipped into his nice-guy pose: giving a hard thumbs-up, a bright smile, and a twinkle forming off his shiny white teeth.

Ranma could only blink. "Everyone saw that weird twinkle thing he did, right?"

"Just go," sighed Nabiki. "And remember Saotome, no holding back. You're not here to show off; you're here to show what you're capable of."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, as he walked out onto the field.

Finally, after he took his ready position—hands in his pockets and his usual 'no defense' defense—Minato began the match.

Still smiling in anticipation of a grand fight, Gai launched a kunai at Ranma's head with blinding speed.

Ranma's smirk grew, too used to such attacks by Mousse—though the kunai was a nice change from daggers, scimitars, swords, and the occasional training potty. He waited till the last moment before dodging it, trying to stay focused on his opponent.

"Dainamikku-Entorī!"

Ranma stood strong, wanting to know what sort of power-base Gai had. Did he center his fighting around speed and agility, as he himself did? Did he prefer unrelenting brute strength and inhuman resilience, like Ryoga? Or, perhaps, did his techniques center around weapons, like Mousse's? In some fights, the first move can set the entire tone for every move afterwards. Bringing his forearms up, he prepared to block the attack.

The result was that he skidded to the side, his foot placement the only thing keeping him from being knocked over. But he now knew something at least: Gai was no Ryoga. That kick had some power in it, a lot more than he expected. But that wasn't the equal to the Lost Boy's usual charge.

Smirking, Ranma charged forward, making three quick punches and a few kicks, testing out Gai's response. With each move, he increased his speed a bit.

The duo continued to smile as they danced about, each one upping the energy of the battle as they tried to surpass the last limit the other used.

"You are a skilled fighter," commented Gai, as he avoided a punch to his ribs, hopping backwards and trying to come up to Ranma's blindside.

Ranma dodged the shot to his kidneys, parrying the blow and trying to catch Gai with a kick to the head. "Not bad yourself," he replied. He was tempted to see if they could exchange a few techniques, but he was still a little freaked out from the shining smile from earlier.

Soon though, the increases in energy began to wane, as Gai's limits began to approach.

"Looks like you're about maxed out," commented Ranma, before he upped his aura a bit. "Mine ain't even near this," he said with his usually cockiness as he connected with a vicious punch, sending Gai back across the landscape.

The freshly minted Jounin slowly stood up, smiling, as he wiped blood from his lip off his face. "You are truly a warrior of youthful energy, Ranma Saotome."

"Thanks," he replied, smirking his usual smile.

"But one should never assume victory is in their grasps until the battle is ended," he said with a growing smirk as he reached to his pant legs and pulled them up.

Ranma paled a bit, wondering what new horrors the odd fighter might release, but also glad that said surprise needed his pant legs to be pulled up, and not his pants to be pulled down.

That mild fear turned to confusion as it revealed something wrapped around, a wraparound belt nearly as large as the leg. Gai removed them from both legs, and held them out to his side, smiling as his pant legs slid back into place.

"After all," said Gai, "the tides of battle can change in but an instant." And with that, he dropped the weights.

Ranma barely had time to notice the small craters the pair of belts made before he received a kick to his guts, sending him backwards.

_Okay, he's a lot faster now._ Obvious conclusions aside, Ranma fell right back into his battle mode. At best he found he could avoid fewer blows now, a concession to the new speed Gai was using in the battle. Moves that Ranma would have dodged easily before now became dodges missing by the narrowest of margins. Momentum added to the harsher effectiveness of the kicks, but the punches remained the same, only intensified if he gave Gai enough room to use a running start to add to the momentum of the fist.

_Gotta stay close; keep him from adding power to his fists. If he can't use that speed to get around me, then he can't hit me!_

Ranma was forced to keep Gai close now. If he didn't, then Gai would use his speed to level a more devastating blow from wherever he found an opening. Sure, he would take more damage this close, but he couldn't allow the green-clad ninja to put some distance between them.

Gai grunted as he Ranma kept flowing around his punches. He wasn't avoiding them anymore by large margins, but small ones. Gai was missing him once more, and it was now leaving Ranma constantly close enough to deal damage back.

_I'll need to start adding some weights to my arms._ It was quite obvious to Gai now that while he had more speed without the weights, it was concentrated only in his legs. The advantage of which was being lost because Ranma refused to allow him to use anymore, despite the damage he was taking from it. In order to hit Ranma enough to win, he was going to need more speed in his arms. And there was only one technique at his disposal for that.

Ranma however, was reaching the same conclusions about Gai's offensive style. The punches had not gained any speed, but his legs most certainly had. Gai could probably run faster than him now, but his delivery for his attacks had only increased marginally. While his kicks were nearly impossible to avoid, they were the only shifts in the dynamics.

However, as Ranma dodged, it became necessary to keep his legs free to press the attack, keeping Ranma from putting more distance between them.

And Ranma did so enjoy a close up fight. Deciding to go on the offensive himself, Ranma waited for Gai to try another kick. If he tried the attack during one of Gai's punches, the bushy-browed teenager would use his speed to avoid the area and capitalize on Ranma's open posture.

However if he waited until Gai tried a kick and would be open himself for an attack, then he would strike pay dirt. "Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken!"

Gai grunted as hundreds of punches rained down on his unprotected stomach, forcing the wind from his lungs, and pushing him back; his attack forgotten as he tried to deal with the pain now assaulting his senses.

Ranma panted slightly. It hadn't been the attack that had winded him, but the accumulated damage of getting to that point. Slightly stiff, he sent his ki out to accelerate the healing. Oh he was going to be feeling that in the morning, some of those kicks ranked up there with Pig-Boy's punches. "Ya got faster, ya didn't get better."

Gai nodded, smiling. He was enjoying this challenge, someone who was taking him to his limits in his Taijutsu skills. "In any battle, skills, speed, power; these things in the proper combination determine the winner. You are skilled, but my power and speed are ebbing that advantage away."

Ranma just smirked, standing up straighter as his wind came back to him. "Nah, that speed trick was nice. But I don't lose." His smile stayed as his eyes focused on Gai, his mind already coming up with several other ways to overcome the newest challenge now that he had the free moment to consider it. He would adapt and he would win.

"Very well then," said Gai, standing up as well. "Then I will have to … add a bit more to my attack."

Ranma's eyes arched at that response. "Oh, so show me what you got."

"Omote Renge!" yelled Gai, as he blurred.

Ranma's eyes shot wide, his senses spotting a sudden spike in Gai's aura, his eyes barely tracking the now faster movements of his opponent, before he felt the impact of a fist to his chest. He put his best efforts not into dodging the attacks—at this speed, avoiding them wasn't an issue, but an impossibility for him—but to roll with them, trying to lessen their effect.

Of course that didn't mean he wasn't going to try and find a way to stop it. There was one chance: he needed to keep Gai away from him until that energy burst wore off. Putting as much ki as he was willing to waste into his aura, he exploded it outward. It had worked in the anime Akane always watched, it could … should work for him now.

His aura burst outward, blasting Gai backwards a bit, and allowing Ranma some breathing room, which increased when the pigtailed boy hopped backwards, before collapsing to one knee.

Panting heavily from the effort, Ranma stared at the equally worn Gai across from him. "Looks like that move took a lot out of you," he mused, wincing at the bruises he could already feel forming across his body. "That power jump thrashed your body almost as much as you thrashed mine."

"This may be true," said Gai, as he struggled to stand. But to Ranma's amazement, his attempts grew stronger, small scratches and bruises from their battle began to heal at an amazing rate. "However, the Lotus of Konoha blooms twice."

Ranma nodded, eyes narrowed. Silently, he cursed himself as once again; he saw that Gai's energy had spiked once more, energy that seemed to be healing him quickly. "Nice trick," muttered Ranma, wondering how Gai had pulled it off.

His own body was healing, just not at the rate Gai's was. Considering what he saw, he figured he had maybe a minute or less before Gai would be on him once again. Assuming that first spike was now finished, he would be hard pressed to put up a defense or dodge the incoming attacks. If it wasn't completely finished, then he would be taking a lot more damage soon.

He could try the Umisenken, get around the guy and maybe hit a pressure point. But he didn't have much in the way of recent practice. Added to that was the fact that he wasn't entirely certain what areas on Gai were covered with weights/armor, made that idea a bad one.

He could try the Möko Takabisha...but successfully using it would require getting up close. Given Gai's speed, a miss would leave him wide open for a counterattack. To use it, he would have to immobilize the Beast first.

_Okay, this guy has speed, but most of his power is in his blows, he commits to the hit. He had trouble against me because I wove around his strikes instead of completely moving out of the way. _

_Wait; he puts a lot of his power into his strikes! It means he can't turn as good after a certain amount. So I need to keep him off balanced, constantly … turning._

A smile broke out on Ranma's face as he ran forward to engage Gai before the ninja could fully heal. Considering all of that aura he was putting out, and what he needed to do…

Ranma had a plan. And he didn't even need to show off the Saotome Secret Technique to devise it.

_Damn I'm good._

* * *

"What's he doing?" asked Jiraiya, looking at the fight.

"Not sure," said Kakashi. Whatever was happening, his Sharingan wasn't picking it up.

Nabiki just smirked. If Ranma was going to do that, at least she was far enough away not to be sucked up.

Kakashi focused on his eye, trying to figure out Ranma's plan. He saw Ranma launch an uppercut, one Gai also saw and moved to avoid. But to his surprise, Ranma didn't pull the arm, he continued through with the failed attack.

"Hiryü Shöten Ha!"

The group watched in amazement as a tornado formed around the fighting duo, obscuring them from view.

"You'll probably want him to explain that one to you later on," said Nabiki with a smirk, enjoying the harsh breeze created by the vortex of opposite ki energy. She didn't fully understand it herself, but she did understand that if Ranma stopped to explain every move he did, they'd never be out of there. Of course, he'd probably never shut up until he understood the moves they did. But that was something whoever taught Ranma would have to worry about. At this point, she was only hoping her teacher would be a great one and not some damned pervert.

The tornado slowly dispersed, leaving only a small dug out pit, and Ranma standing in the middle, his clothes barely touched by the howling winds, his fist still in the air. Blinking, he lowered his hand, patting his clothes. "Glad they didn't rip apart," he muttered. It wasn't like he had any other set of clothes here.

"Saotome!"

Blinking, he looked over towards the group, noticing Nabiki pointing up.

"Shit!" he muttered as he flipped backwards, narrowly missing the incoming Youthful Projectile.

The group raced forward, anxious to know the extent of Gai's damage. As the approached the now deeper impression, they stared in silence as Gai struggled to sit up.

"Such … youth," he gasped, before passing out.

"He's okay," said Ranma, patting off some remaining dust. "Anyone that tough isn't going to be hurt like that; he's just out cold from the effects."

"He's right," said Rin, performing a quick chakra scan. "He'll need some rest, but he should be fine."

Kakashi fought not to release a depressed sigh. Oh well, he'd just enjoy the quiet while it lasted.

"Okay then, let's get him out of there," said Minato. "Kakashi, you're up!"

* * *

Kakashi knew he was slowly approaching the limits of what he could do with his new Sharingan. He had taken off his cover for it, his headband, to observe the taijutsu fight between Ranma and Gai. The fact Saotome had gone toe-to-toe with the expert was amazing on its own.

But there was something ... off about what he was using for those moves. The Sharingan had saw, analyzed, and stored in memory, as well as the visual clarity to keep from getting dropped in on. But when it focused on Ranma rather than his 'eternal rival', the whole procedure seemed … off, as it he wasn't focusing correctly. If he had to guess, it would have to be that Ranma used a different … variant of chakra.

He would also have the guess from what he had seen that Ranma was primarily a close-range fighter. He obviously didn't have any weapons on him, but that didn't mean he didn't have other means to take on a long-range attacker. The problem was he only had a few ninjutsu that were both long-range and non-lethal—well, as non-lethal as those types of jutsus got.

"Begin!" yelled Minato.

Kakashi started out with a silent Bunshin no Jutsu, creating four clones. This was followed by a quick Kawarimi no Jutsu with one of the outer clones, before they charged Ranma.

Ranma just slid into a stance. He didn't know if this was like Cologne's Splitting Cat Hairs (Katsu Neko Ke) or Konatsu's Duplicating Body Technique, but he did know it wasn't what it seemed. You deal with enough ninjas, especially the crackpot type that somehow seem to seek you out, you learn not to trust first impressions. Quickly, his foot lashed out, kicking several pebbles knocked loose by Gai's crash landing towards the clones. If they were after-images, then it would go right through the fakes.

Only the one on the left didn't instantly poof out of existence, and thus as a reward for staying, Ranma delivered a spin-kick to Kakashi's gut.

The figure lurched backwards, nearly doubled in half, before it disappeared in some smoke as well, a quick Kawarimi allowing Kakashi to evade the attack thanks to a log.

The log didn't survive the attack, landing in two pieces, split down the middle.

"Damn it," growled Ranma. It was a move similar to Konatsu's Disappearing Body Technique, just minus the need to lose a shirt to do it. And when you had trouble like he did, you did not want to lose any clothes in good shape.

Sending his senses out, Ranma tried to locate the missing ninja. This guy wasn't going to be purely physical in a fight.

Of course, hopping back to avoid a kunai that missed him wasn't what he was expecting either, especially one that looked like it still had a sale sign attached to it.

"Shit!" Ranma yelled as the tag began to hiss slightly. Dealing with Mousse, you quickly learned that any object thrown that made a sound was something you got away from quickly.

It turned out it was true here, as the area he had been standing erupted in a small explosion. It wouldn't have been much, but it would have definitely hurt. And probably set him up for a second attack and left him little option for a counter.

Of course, it helps if the second attack isn't another exploding kunai.

* * *

Kakashi looked on as Ranma dodged the third exploding tagged kunai. Constantly moving, he was submersing his presence as much as he could, trying to gain a better understanding of his opponent. Despite the fact he knew Ranma had no trained healing abilities like a medic Nin, he couldn't help but notice that the bruise that had been on Ranma's arms visible from the fight with Gai were all but gone. That alone indicated a high healing factor. This of course meant that doing light damage was all but useless as a means of winning. Ranma would heal too quickly for it to accumulate.

This meant he either needed to create massive damage quickly and constantly, or he needed a deciding blow.

"Shooting Star Kick!"

It also meant you had better never allow him to be obscured by a dust cloud. Apparently he was going to have to do some massive retraining to make use of Obito's last gift.

* * *

Ranma continued to press the attack on Kakashi after knocking him out of the tree he had been hiding in for a few seconds too many. Add to it the fact he was very tired of people trying to blow him up, he decided to take this to a close-and-personal level.

Not that he took his eyes off the ninja if he could help it—a fact which saved him from finding out if he was tougher than those exploding tags twice.

Kakashi however, was once again considering two things. One was the fact that Ranma's taijutsu abilities were at least high chuunin-levels if not low-to-mid jounin levels. The other thing was that he really needed to spend some time watching other ninja practice with his Sharingan and up his repertoire of techniques. His only big one was Chidori, and now wasn't the time to try such a technique.

But he needed something to get Saotome to back off of him for a moment so he could try to use some more long-range attacks.

Ranma of course gave him just what he needed, just not how he needed. The pigtailed male was a bit tired of dishing stuff out and only taking it with no real proof. So he decided to let out a little explosion of his own. "Möko Takabisha!"

Kakashi's eyes opened wide as the ki projectile struck him, launching him back roughly across the ground.

Ranma didn't want to let up as Kakashi was skidding towards the tree line again. Taking Nabiki's advice, he raised his arms. He wasn't aiming for Kakashi, but he had to time it just right. "Kijin Raishü Dan!" he yelled, sending two vacuum blades into the trees, hoping to pin the explosive ninja to the ground.

Kakashi was barely able to alter his momentum enough to send him up and over the falling branches that had been trying to pin him, before he disappeared into the trees once again.

"The Sharingan makes one a quick learner," came Kakashi's voice from the trees, but not anywhere Ranma could pinpoint.

"That weird eye of yours, I take it?" said Ranma, putting more ki into his scans around him.

"It is a bloodline ability, though mine came as a gift from my teammate before he passed on."

Ranma made no comment about that. You didn't speak ill of the dead … as long as they were good people. If the Old Letch croaked, he'd do the same … for the first five minutes.

"It is one of a few truly powerful Kekkei Genkai in the Leaf Village," Kakashi continued. "I am only just now beginning to fully understand the value of Obito's gift."

Ranma dodged another hail of kunai, his eyes quickly noting that those had not had exploding tags on them, as leapt to the side. It appeared either he was out of those or saving them; and since Ranma doubted that the grey-haired jounin knew any Hidden Weapons techniques, it most likely meant he only had a few of either left at best.

"Running out of shit ta throw, are you?" asked Ranma, trying to get Kakashi angry—the one major skill needed for Saotome Ryu and in any battle. After all, an angry opponent was more often than not a sloppy opponent.

Truthfully, that was the last of what Kakashi had to 'throw' at him. He was also beginning to run low on chakra. _The Sharingan is using too much chakra again. At least I got a few good taijutsu techniques from Gai's battle._ But then again, it seemed Ranma also didn't fully understand what exactly the Sharingan was. If so, then he could use what remained of his chakra for one final assault. And that meant he had to get close and personal once again.

Ranma blinked as the ninja exited the tree line, instantly engaging into a taijutsu battle again. He still was careful—never knew if all those exploding tags were truly gone—but it seemed as if not only the grey-haired Nin was slowing down, but smiling as well.

Kakashi was smiling—given his mask that was hard to know for certain, as he cupped his hands like Ranma had done. "I already told you Ranma, the Sharingan makes one a quick learner. Möko Takabisha!" he yelled, funneling chakra into his hands like he had seen Ranma do.

**BOOM!**

Kakashi cringed as he looked at his hands, seeing the damage the failed attack had caused. The sleeves were torn, burned, and slightly bloody halfway up to his elbows. The hands themselves were not much better. The twitched slightly from damaged nerves, something he hoped his remaining teammate could fix. They looked raw, as if he had burnt them in a fire.

Ranma just stared. Not once when he had been practicing the Möko Takabisha or the original Shishi Höködan had that happened. Come to think of it, the only time his hands had ever suffered because of the Möko Takabisha was when he simply put too much power into it, power his body hadn't been trained to put out.

"Ah, I get it," smirked Ranma, looking at Kakashi's hands. "You're little copy gimmick worked, but ya didn't fix one thing. I use ki, not chakra. So I guess when ya tried to use my Möko Takabisha, apparently chakra can't be used like that without a few changes."

Minato nodded his head. "Not bad, Saotome," he said, motioning for Rin to get Kakashi and begin healing his hands. It was so odd to see another attack like his own creation: the Rasengan. Momentarily, he wondered if he might be able to fire it like Ranma's Möko Takabisha when he completed it. Perhaps he'd have to set some time with the teenager and learn about that technique. It might be just what he needed to complete the Rasengan. "But now we have one last test remaining.

"Kurenai, you're up!"

Kakashi just grumbled, his forehead once again covering his Sharingan eye. "I could have beat him," he grumbled, as Rin began to heal his burned hands. The left one was just about finished, not being nearly as injured as his right hand had been.

Jiraiya sighed as he handed the complaining teen an orange book. "Stop your bitching and read this. With any luck, you'll have something else to focus on and we can watch this last test in peace."

Glaring at him with his one good eye, Kakashi used his one good hand—fresh from Rin's tender mercies—as he looked at the book. "Icha Icha Paradise: Shinobi Sunset."

Figuring that he didn't have anything else to do, with one hand down and his chakra too low to use the Sharingan, he opened it up. Who knew, it might be a good read.

* * *

Ranma just stared, panting slightly, as the red-eyed woman took a stance before him. So far he had faced a taijutsu expert—though he even now still wondered if Gai was 'all there' in the head—and a ninjutsu expert—he was really going to have to work on understanding something like the Sharingan if he was going to be staying here. Now he was supposed to be facing someone who was the quickest expert in something called genjutsu they had in the village at the moment, a girl who was supposed to be some prodigy.

"Okay, I'll bite," said the tired pigtailed boy. "What's this genjutsu stuff?"

Kurenai Yuhi just blinked at the boy. From what she had seen, it was obvious the boy did have skill, at least chuunin-level in several areas. But how could he not know of what genjutsu was when he knew taijutsu and ninjutsu, and why the hell was he waiting till now to even ask. "Genjutsu," she explained, "are techniques that use the chakra in the victim's nervous system to create illusions. By using it, I can create illusions you believe are real. Advanced genjutsu can even create full sensory immersion."

Ranma just blinked. "So you can make imaginary fire and stuff that someone will think is real?" he asked, remembering Toma's little trick that was supposed to be 'unbeatable'.

Kurenai's eyes narrowed. "Yes, that is one application of it."

Ranma just smirked. "No problem then, this'll be easy."

"Can you just start now?" yawned Jiraiya. Sure the kid had potential, he could see that. And training him would be a bit easier of a job than training the Tendo girl. But them chatting was not going to show him the limits of what the boy already knew. It was going to be bad enough to even try and train the new brat seeing as how Gai would want to have Ranma train him in using 'ki'. Right now though, he wanted to see the brat's mental fortitude.

"Then we shall start off with a basic technique," said Kurenai, her hands clasped together before her, as she concentrated.

Ranma blinked as he felt her discharge … some sort of power. If that stuff Toma used was Genjutsu, he hoped it was something he could learn—not that he'd ever abuse such knowledge and make some rivals and especially one insane kendoist think they were surrounded by fire.

"So," he started, looking around for some fire, "when does this technique start?"

"RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!"

Mouth wide in shock, he turned, spotting perhaps the only person he could expect to find him here. But sure enough, fresh from the forest, backpack and all, was the Lost Boy, glaring at him and charging straight for an attack.

"Damn it, Bacon Bits," yelled Ranma, "I'm busy here!"

"How dare you think about your needs when Akane is crying about you running off with Nabiki?" Ryoga yelled, as he launched a haymaker at Ranma's skull.

Ranma dodged it, but his eyes narrowed. Something was off about this. How come no one had stopped this? Wasn't he supposed to be under some test right now? Unless of course they felt Ryoga's desire for a quick battle was a good test. Hell, he should have been hearing Nabiki demand the walking pork product to take them back to Nerima.

And then he saw it, a blur around the edges of the attacking Lost Boy, as if he didn't have anything really there.

"_By using it, I can create illusions you believe are real."_

Ranma just smirked. Okay, so he hadn't picked it up so quickly, but now he understood. It wasn't fire, but it was still a cool little illusion, one he definitely wanted to learn—once again not to use it on unsuspecting rivals or pain-in-the-ass fathers.

* * *

Kurenai blinked as Ranma started to yawn and stretch.

"Thanks for the rest," he said, scratching his lower back. "But that wasn't very good."

"What?" she growled out. She was supposed to be a prodigy, but this guy was shaking off a jutsu of that power and level faster than a few chuunin she knew, and calling her work sloppy.

"Well, having me attacked by Ryoga was pretty nice," he mused, scratching his chin. "But he wasn't all there, kinda blurry in places."

Her eyes opened wide at that, anger replaced with shock and confusion. Her genjutsu had been … imperfect? Then again, perhaps it had not been her effort that was the problem, but the target himself. Didn't he say he used some form of energy called ki. The Fourth had commented that it seemed almost like a differing mixture close to chakra, but that he wasn't sure. Could it have somehow altered his perception enough to block a perfect application of genjutsu?

Of course, given that her opponent was one pigtailed martial artist, her current state was reset soon enough.

"Man, hope the other moves you have are done better, cause I'd hate to be underrated because you need more practice."

"Fine," growled Kurenai, as she began to form some seals. "We'll try another genjutsu then." The fact she planned to amp the power on it just a tad to mess with him for calling her skills dodgy had nothing to do with that decision. If asked, she would just say that she felt his odd energy might not allow for low-energy genjutsu to take hold unless she amped the chakra in them.

Ranma just snorted. "Sure, try some more of that mental hocus-pocus skill of yours; it ain't gonna work on me."

"We'll see," she said, forming the final seal. "Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu," she said in an eerily calm voice, as the leaves began to dance around Ranma.

Nabiki paled at hearing the name. She knew that technique all too well, the same technique that sick bastard had pumped up and used on her to weaken her resistance. But unlike Ranma, she had seen a horrifying vision, as well as felt the blows as her family attacked her, belittled her.

But what would Ranma see? She could already see that his smirk hadn't died off, his eyes still focused on the young genin that Minato had chosen for the test. What would be his horrifying vision, she wondered. Akane's cooking? Kuno declaring his love?

Her eyes shot wide, a sudden thought entering her head. No, it couldn't be! It couldn't locate and use **that** fear, could it? "You've got to stop now!" screamed Nabiki to Kurenai.

"What's wrong?" asked Minato.

"She can't use his fear!" Nabiki yelled, not even wanting to consider what would happen if **that** got loose here. If what that damned tanuki had said was true, they did not need **that** running around with so much power. Hell, Ranma hadn't even slipped into it since he started learning to toss his chi around like a baseball. There was no telling how powerful the damned thing would be now.

"I don't understand," said Kurenai.

But before Nabiki could respond with a warning, with a new scream to cancel the technique; the fear became fact.

Ranma's eyes became hooded by his bangs, as he crouched down on the ground.

"Meow."

"The Nekoken," Nabiki quietly hissed, fear racing through her mind, as she wondered what the cat would do now.

* * *

Ranma just had stared at the girl, wondering what her damned technique was supposed to do. Hell Viewing Technique? What; was he supposed to see life through Ryoga's eyes? Maybe be attacked by some weird little versions of demons that appeared in those kids-oriented anime.

"Meow."

He immediately stiffened up at hearing the cry of a small cat, as he spun around, trying to locate the source of his eternal tormentor, once again trying to lure him into a false sense of safety with their small beady eyes and their 'I'd never scratch out your eyes and dine on your blood' face.

He found it coming towards him from the right, a lone baby ... thing, making its way towards him, exuding peace and serenity, a total appearance of non-threatening.

Like he'd fall for that again.

"Meow."

He blinked, twisting to his left to spot a second of the fearsome beasts, making its way towards him as well. _Okay, just two of the furry demons; I can handle them. Ha! I ain't scared of two little furballs!_ Ranma was trying to form a smirk at the apparent victory over the technique; as if two kittens could defeat him.

"Meow."

He blinked. A third one? Well, that wouldn't be ... too... _Shit!_

That may have been just the meow of one cat, but it was not just that one new cat making its way towards him. Everywhere he looked, the furballs were there, making a beeline for him. So many that the field seemed to have no grass, only a sea of mouse chasers, and each one coming towards him.

His heart began to race as he looked for anywhere he could leap to avoid the encroaching mass of fur fury. But the trees were too far for him to leap towards, given his weakened state, and no other features stood out in the landscape to put some well needed distance between him and terrors.

_Stay calm!_ He mentally berated himself. _They're just the small ones, ain't nothing I haven't faced before!_

His small reassurances failed though, as the small furry kittens began to shift and grow, distorting and becoming the things he feared most. There weren't tiny monsters anymore.

There were true incarnations of demonic cats from Hell he knew them to be, easily twice the size of the tiger Kuno had used before. Their calm appearance was gone, replaced with a drooling menacing one that seemed to belay their intent to gobble him up and rip into his form.

Ranma didn't even have time to scream before they all seemed to leap at once to pounce on him.

* * *

Rokubi no Neko blinked as he saw a small cheetah race through the field of the mind, darting towards what was the forefront of human thought within the mental world. **"Something tells me that this is part of the problem,"** he growled out, as he started to trot forward. **"Better watch this in case it starts to go bad."**

He had no idea how bad it was about to get.

* * *

**Note:** Omote Renge: This is the opening of the First Gate, the Initial Gate. Further information is below:

Name: Omote Renge, literally "Front Lotus", Viz "Forward Lotus" (a.k.a. "Primary Lotus" or "Initial Lotus")  
Type: B-rank, Offensive, Short range (0-5m)  
Users: Rock Lee  
This technique puts a lot of strain on the user's muscle fibers, and is basically a suicidal attack. Normally, humans use the power of their muscles at only about 20 percent of its full power; the brain regulates muscle usage to ensure this, since any higher and the muscles will be damaged or destroyed. The Omote Renge requires the opening of one of the inner celestial gates- the Initial Gate, which releases the brain's regulation on muscle usage. The result is a much more powerful brand of Taijutsu than normal, but at the cost of damage to the user.


	4. Wrong Side of Reality Part 3

**Shinobi One-Half**

**Chapter 4**

**Waking Up on the Wrong Side of Reality Part 3**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

* * *

Rokubi continued to walk towards the forefront of his host's mind, wondering what awaited him, and what required the cat spirit to head there in such a quick fashion. Granted, he had never been at such an observation point in his long life to observe a Nekoken user's state; no Raiju ever had as far as he knew. But the quick act of the cheetah had left him feeling very nervous.

He knew cats if nothing else, and the cheetah's actions spoke of urgency and worry.

"**This does not bode well,"** the cat Raiju commented. The last time the two spirits had been close—Ranma and the cheetah-cat that seemed to represent the Nekoken as well as the animal spirit of Saotome's soul—they had merged within the subconscious. It had been odd to see, seeing as how no Raiju had ever been inside the head of a user, but from what he could gather of Saotome's memories of his own use of the Nekoken, such fusions in all likelihood resulted in a higher power base, if not the needed mindset to control it. And power had little use with no control over it.

"**I fear what my addition will do to such a power base,"** he murmured as he neared the end of his search. The Nekoken usually allowed users to extract the energy of the spirit guides, allowing a needed boost in energy. But such extraction usually came at a price too high; usually continued insanity due to an incomplete merger or death from merging and not knowing the limits of how much one could safely pull. He had seen far too many souls forever tainted because of the bastardized Nekoken to ever wish it upon anyone.

Very few people actually ever mastered even the bastardized Nekoken, and few who survived chose to either seal it off or forever run from the fear of cats, usually living where no felines could exist. Those that mastered the true technique were formidable, and while never confirmed, he suspected that they may have eventually evolved into cat spirits. But since they usually died in battles, that theory was never proven.

But for the moment, he needed to focus not on those thoughts, but on the person who was the embodiment of those lines of thoughts.

Sadly, what he saw was not what he wanted to see. Where normally Ranma stood—or to be more precise, a full body floating image that represented his mind—was the cheetah. But even that was not there, to be more precise, a much larger form of the cheetah, nearly half the Raiju's size, partially transparent with Ranma apparently floating inside the spectral cat's skull was now in control of the mental facilities had assumed the position of control.

He guessed that was normal somewhat, given that the Nekoken and the spirit cat would both base their actions on Ranma's Id. It was why when submerged within the bastardized technique; Neko-Ranma would always act out Ranma's inner desires and wishes, instead of those of a simple cat.

But a perfect merger should have resembled the earlier cheetah-man Rokubi had seen before when he had tried to establish contact with his new host. In many ways, it was the final step to mastering it, as well as the final step of many who succumbed to their inner beast. While he had never met a Nekoken Master, he had at least seen the scrolls of the original, a needed precaution when he had been forced to either help or put down the Bastard Nekoken users.

What he saw now both frightened him and intrigued him.

He was intrigued because it showed just how separate the two personalities were in this formation, something that would need to be corrected if Ranma was to ever overcome the false Nekoken. The fact his mind-image seemed to be in the head indicated a lot about his progress towards a proper merger. The head meant he was closer towards rational thought and not primal urges that usually led to the self-destruction of the other failed attempts. Ranma needed only the right mental training and he would soon be free of his fear and free to use the power it granted.

But he was frightened because it was obvious the Nekoken was not just using Saotome's energy to power itself. There was already a trickle of the Raiju's power flowing into the grand beast, but the fusion already had a huge reservoir to draw from.

"**This cannot be good,"** the Raiju murmured. **"By Raijin, where does it get such power from? Could the Ranma's spirit have already been so powerful even before he began to master his body with his martial arts?"**

He blinked for a moment, wondering if perhaps it was an optical illusion that the combined image seemed … closer to him.

Looking behind him, he saw that his own mighty paws had dug small trenches … towards the image.

"**The fusion is drawing more of my energies towards them!"** he yelled out, as he tried to pull back. Not only did the cheetah have its own power, it could draw from Ranma.

And now apparently, it could draw from him as well, as the trickle he had noticed earlier was starting to swell. This did not bode well for anyone in the physical world. No matter how strong the cheetah spirit may have been, that was nothing compared to the power of a Raiju. And it seemed this new mixture was determined to draw upon that power … for whatever use it saw fit.

* * *

Neko-Ranma looked over the field, still seeing the images that Kurenai's Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu had given the original, since that image was still fresh in its mind, still powered by a genjutsu whose user did not end it when asked.

He didn't like these nasty cats, they were in his territory. And they weren't even being friendly invaders. No, these nasty strays were challenging him for his territory, trying to prove that he was not the dominant feline anymore.

Raising his paw, he decided to teach these bad kitties a lesson: don't fuck with an alpha cat.

* * *

"Did he just meow?" asked Jiraiya. He had seen some weird beast-techniques before, courtesy of peeking in on a few of the Inuzuka clan females. Hell, a few people thought he belonged to that clan because of his face-paint. But this style was definitely different from any beast-mimicry technique. It almost seemed like Saotome believed himself to actually be a cat.

"We are so screwed," said Nabiki in a near whisper. Ranma was a hell of a lot more powerful now than when he had last used it. And with both a Raiju inside of him and the fact he had taken a life… No, this did not bode well for their continued safety on the sidelines.

"What is this technique?" asked Sarutobi.

"A screwed up berserker," said Nabiki. "We need to trigger his curse now! Anyone have some cold water to splash him with?"

The group looked at her, the confusion they felt evident on their faces.

Nabiki opened her mouth, intent on trying to get them to act now and ask questions later before Neko-Ranma got his rhythm going, just now realizing that in the entire time they had been on this strange world, not once had Ranma's curse been active. But she wasn't quick enough.

With a quick spin, Neko-Ranma lowered his paw, slicing into his opponents that only he could see.

**BOOM!**

The ground surrounding him exploded, cracking and shifting as his attack shattered it.

Kurenai leapt back, her own training keeping her from being caught in the shifting earth, and also forcing her to drop the technique.

While the others gaped at the sheer destruction wrought by the single spinning slice of Ranma's hand, Neko-Ranma was looking about. The bad kittens had left, completely gone, without even a scent to show they had ever been there. Sure, it had hurt the territory it claimed, but it didn't matter if it proved to the bad kittens just who was in charge.

Now, was there anyone else challenging his rule?

* * *

"Tendo, explain this quickly!" yelled out Minato, sending a signal to his ANBU guard to stay back, not wanting to escalate things.

Nabiki felt her mouth run dry watching the scene before her. She had seen the Nekoken in action before. But she had never had such an emotional attachment before. If these people saw Neko-Ranma as an enemy, then she might be alone here in this strange and vicious world. No, she needed them to see the truth: the odd innocence of the cat-martial artist.

She also needed to reveal something she was quite surprised hadn't come up yet, almost as if Jusenkyo was giving him a break: not once had his curse activated during his stay in this strange world. It was odd when she thought about it, but she considered passing it off as one of those 'bloodline limits' or 'kekkei genkai' they spoke about.

Granted, it would be one really fucked-up gift from the Kami and they'd have to be mental to believe it, but that was beside the point.

No, she had stated to herself earlier that only the truth would do here—or a close approximation of it. "Ranma's father tried to teach him a technique that was supposed to be the ultimate martial arts technique. It was a joke that wasn't revealed till the last page of the section in the book on it. Long story short, you do **not** want to have him see you as an enemy at this point.

"There are only two ways to bring him out of it: activate his curse which ends up with a mental reboot or he finds some place to nap. When he wakes up, he's back to Ranma."

"And you didn't inform us of this … why exactly?" asked Minato.

"I forgot, okay," she growled. "Besides, he hasn't slipped into it in almost a year. He was making progress against his fear of cats, which triggers it thanks to how he learned it. That technique your little kunoichi pulled just woke it up."

"Any other surprises we need to know about?" growled Minato, carefully watching as Saotome proceeded to … lick the back of his hand?

"That's the worst as far as I know," said Nabiki, trying to keep her rampant emotions under control. Her heart beat had shot way up, and her breath was ragged, a far cry from the detached Tendo sister of old.

"**My mate's power is beginning to flow into them!"** cried the Tanuki.

Nabiki could only eep after hearing that. "And it looks like Neko-Ranma's drawing on the Neko Raiju's energy to keep it going."

"Well, that's just great," muttered Jiraiya as he tossed his bag off to the side. "We might as well be fighting a Bijuu."

"Try not to harm him," said Nabiki softly.

"We won't," said Minato, looking towards both the other adults and making hand signs to inform the ANBU that no matter what, until he said so, they were to maintain their positions and only move back if their position was attacked. They were not to engage. "I promised the Raiju we would take care of you guys."

"Let's hope you can keep that word," said Sarutobi, as he quickly tossed off his robes. Somehow, he knew he would need all the mobility his old body could afford him. "You five stay back," he replied, looking at the other ninja upon the field as well as Nabiki. "If it gets too dangerous, I expect you to grab Gai and fall back."

"I won't," said Nabiki. "Doing so might make him follow me if he feels protective enough, he might assume I'm being kidnapped again," she replied quickly when they looked oddly at her. The last thing she wanted to do was give Neko-Ranma a moving target. She knew what cats did to mice, assuming Ranma's mind still saw her as a possible threat more than a friend. She started wandering off to the side, putting some distance between her and the tired ninjas from the test. "I'll be fine otherwise. Trust me," she said.

"Fine," said Minato. If anyone could handle herself at the moment, it would be someone containing another Raiju as well. He'd worry more a bit later about dealing with any possible leaks from Nabiki's comment about Saotome housing a Raiju later. For now, he had what he hoped was a playful kitten to deal with. "You three, grab Gai and fall back, that's an order, and stay back!"

"Understood," said Kakashi, gingerly standing up from his seat—and putting his new favorite book into his hip pouch for … later review. "Good luck, Sensei."

Nodding, Minato reached inside his cloak and pulled out a small scroll. Quickly nipping his thumb, he unrolled the scroll into the air and wiped his blood on it.

Within a second, the scroll exploded, sending out dozens of tri-pronged Kunai with special seals which landed all about the damaged training field as well as around Neko-Ranma, who looked around at them with confusion.

As far as Neko-Ranma was concerned, they didn't attack him yet, so he didn't know who to play with. His familiar lap to rest in wasn't there, but he recognized one lap—not as bad looking before but it was still one he didn't want to fall asleep in.

Sarutobi looked on. "Well, let me try, Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

As a single shadow clone appeared, it darted careful over towards Ranma, hoping to calm the boy down—without putting Sarutobi himself in jeopardy of being injured.

As the shadow clone approached, he tried to sound pleasant and as non-threatening as possible. "Ranma, can you understand me?"

"Meor?" asked Neko-Ranma, tilting his head to the side. Something was off about the elderly guy before him, but he couldn't quite place it.

"I see," said the Hokage clone. "Ranma, we need to keep you calm and try to get you some water. Would you like some cold water?"

"Hsssssss!" growled the catboy. Water sounded bad. He didn't know why, but then what cat ever understood why they hated water.

The shadow clone stopped his approach. He knew enough not to approach an upset animal. And if what Nabiki had said was true, then as far as Ranma's mind was concerned, he was simply a cat.

"How about some nice yummy food then?" asked the clone.

Neko-Ranma still growled. This not-right man had offered food, but he offered water first. That was never a good sign.

On the sidelines, Sarutobi was trying to remain calm, wondering if summoning Enma might be a good idea.

"I think you're idea failed, Sensei," said Jiraiya. "In fact, I think the shadow clone is upsetting him somehow."

"Oh?"

**WHAM! POOF!**

Sarutobi took a step back as his own shadow clone was thrown at him somehow, knocking the wind out of him and dissipating the clone. The elderly man barely had time before the catboy impacted him in the gut, further knocking him back. The last thing Sarutobi noticed before he hit the ground in pain was his battle attire turning partially into confetti.

Ranma leapt away from the bad man. Sometimes you just needed to only show a little anger at the water idea—not to mention he smelled all wrong. Luckily, he'd done no worse to him than the bad stick-boy, he hadn't really attacked him, just annoyed him. When he landed, he looked around, wondering if he could find a playmate or maybe find out if anymore bad people were around.

"Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari!" yelled Jiraiya, as he slammed his hands on the ground, trapping Neko-Ranma within the esophagus of a great fire-breathing toad from Mount Myouboku. "There, that should hold him till he calms down."

"Not likely," muttered Nabiki, as she knelt down beside the injured Sarutobi.

"Still a kitten's mentality," said the elder Hokage. "I'm mainly hurt in my pride, the wounds are almost superficial."

"So you're okay?" she asked.

"Just a bit winded from his hit," the elder Hokage chuckled as he rubbed what he knew would be a big bruise on his midsection from Ranma's impact.

"So tell me, Ms. Tendo," he said with a worried smile as he glanced at Jiraiya trap. "Think that will work?"

"What is it?"

"A special summons Jiraiya knows, it summons the esophagus of a great fire-breathing toad from Mount Myouboku, supposedly inescapable."

"I wouldn't put anything past Ranma, especially in this Neko-mode."

* * *

Neko-Ranma looked around the bad smelling place he seemed to find himself in. His senses kept telling him the walls and even the floors were bad, but it wasn't until his sniffed the floor that it finally reacted, reaching up and trying to ensnare his paws.

He hopped backwards away from the nasty floor, growling. This wasn't a nice place to be, and as such, he wanted away from the bad place.

Especially as it tried to grab him again.

Raising up his paw, a blue aura formed around it, expanding to form a set of claws.

He wanted out … NOW!

* * *

The ground shook heavily as the Bind cracked in concert.

"Impossible," said Jiraiya, focusing chakra into the summons. He had to toughen it up and quickly, otherwise Saotome would bust out. He didn't even have time now to try and enhance the esophagus to ensnare and hold Saotome till they could hit him with some summoned water. They had to contain him.

"Sensei!" yelled Minato from his location.

"Stay back!" yelled Jiraiya, as he pushed more chakra into the summons.

Sadly, it was too little too late, and only served to wind the Sannin as Ranma seemed to jump through the toughened walls, hands blazing with chakra in the shape of cat's paws, claws extended, and landed on top, growling.

Jiraiya hopped back, stunned by what had just happened. Apparently either the strength of the Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari had been exaggerated—and knowing a few of the older toads, that was entirely possible—or Ranma was a lot stronger now than he had suspected. _Of course, if he really is drawing on that Raiju-thing for power, it just might be possible. I don't think this was ever meant to handle something as strong as a Bijuu._

Quickly dispelling the summons and hoping that it would be able to repair itself, he hopped forward; hoping to use the fact that Ranma's standing position had ceased to be there would disorient the cat-minded ninja hopeful enough for Jiraiya to land a knockout blow.

His plan failed as before his eyes, the descending pigtailed boy seemed to curve around his incoming strike, before lashing out with a kick that caught the man in the chest and launched him backwards.

Despite the situation, Jiraiya had to feel impressed with the kid. Even with that mentality, the body had to be able to withstand and act on the forces to pull off certain moves. He had felt almost no chakra enhancement being used to pull off that move. And given the amount of times he had been chased by Tsunade for … assorted activities, he knew that meant something. The kid wasn't just amping up abilities to such levels; his body could use itself at those levels already.

Putting his feet down, he slowly fell into a roll, hoping to return quickly to the combat. After all, the boy hadn't pressed his advantage yet, maybe still in the thoughts they were playing a game.

That idea was quickly dissuaded as he saw a black blur before something impacted him on his forehead. If not for his head piece taking the majority of the damage, he would have probably had a fractured skull if not a dangerous concussion from the blow. Instead, he now had a bad headache, black spots in his vision, and could spot the broken pieces of his head piece falling to the ground as the unfazed neko-boy hopped back once again.

Jiraiya lay upon the ground, hissing slightly. "Man, that's one tough forehead," he mused.

Neko-Ranma just looked at the fallen man. He certainly hadn't been very fun to play with. And he smelled like the weird small panty-man. No, he definitely wasn't going to be a good playmate. And to be honest, he was running out of playmates.

**Bop!**

Shaking his head from where a rock had hit him, Neko-Ranma turned around, spotting a blond man who didn't even remotely smell like small-panty-man tossing a rock in his hand. Maybe this was a new playmate?

Minato smiled. His old Sensei was still alive—and would probably have a village-sized headache after all of this was over. He had also found out that Saotome seemed to be reacting to any ill-intent in their chakra. It was why he had tossed the rock and not had it be swatted away: there had been no ill-intent behind the rock, only a game-intent. As long as he didn't try to purposely hurt or bind the kid, the Nekoken would not take overtly powerful measures.

So, he had to play a game until they could come up with a plan. As far as battles went, it certainly wasn't the most dangerous thing he had ever done. "Nyah!" he cried, sticking out his tongue and pulling down his right eye lid. "Can't catch me!" he yelled.

Neko-Ranma smiled and released a very happy 'Meow' before he leapt at the man, only to see him disappear in a yellow flash. When he landed, he tried to figure out where the man had gone.

**Bop!**

Quickly turning towards from where the rock had come from, he spotted his new playmate standing a dozen meters away, smiling and picking up another rock. "Too slow, Saotome! You're going to need to be quicker than that!"

Neko-Ranma almost felt like purring now. The new playmate was really fast. This was going to be the best game ever.

* * *

Minato used the Hiraishin once again, and once again, found himself surprised that Ranma was once again focused on him, even as the boy's body was in the process of trying to change direction. _The boy is trying to follow my movements? Even the Uchiha can't do that._

_It would appear the boy is more than even I can imagine._ With that thought, he used the Hiraishin again. If he could keep this berserker busy until they came up with a plan to 'activate' his curse, then there might be a chance to end this without a new body needing buried.

Nabiki just watched as this all went about. The elder man known as the Third Hokage or Sarutobi was winded, but seemed relatively unharmed from his encounter with Neko-Ranma, as was the 'full sized' version of Happosai. Currently, the source of her fear was trying to catch what he figured was a fun mouse that was moving about the field in a way that made her think resembled the fighting style of a character from the Dragonball Z series.

The only thing that kept her from passing out was that Ranma's face seemed to be filled with a smile, indicating that the kitten-mindset was still in place … for the moment.

* * *

"**We must work quickly,"** said the Tanuki Raiju inside of her. **"Even you can feel my mate's energy flowing through this fusion."**

_How?_

"**From what I've gathered from your looks at the scrolls they left you and Ranma, this 'chakra' they speak of could be very similar to the energy that we Raiju are made from. Since he can use the energy of his body, it is not farfetched to assume he may inadvertently tap into the energy that makes up our normal bodies."**

_Wait; he's killing the other Raiju?_

"**No my dear, there are limits to what our partnership can allow, and he can no more drain a Raiju to death than a single person can breath all the world's air or eat all the world's food. But pulling too much of that energy before his body has adapted to handling it could damage him in ways I am not yet aware. Remember, we are the first Raiju to have ever bonded this way with humans. Though they may have some understanding from this 'Bijuu' I have heard mentioned."**

Nabiki gulped as an errant swing from Neko-Ranma's hand left another set of four gouges in the ground, fifteen meters wide. "Can we get back to the problem at hand and skip the lesson for now?" she asked, forgetting to speak in her mind.

She heard a snort before the Tanuki continued. **"Anyway, if this Neko-Ranma is using my mate's energy, then my mate's inner desires will also begin to influence it. As such, if we can gather its attention in a way to isolate it enough to perhaps activate his curse, we should stand a grand chance of not only surviving this encounter, but ensuring Ranma survives as well."**

"And how exactly do you plan to gather his attention?" Nabiki asked with a slightly more nervous tone in her voice. Somehow, this reminded her of some anime she watched, and not in a good way.

"**We simply need to emit an aura that will draw my mate towards me, and thus gather Neko-Ranma's attention, even if it doesn't know why."**

Nabiki's fear disappeared in a heartbeat, as her voice became monotone. "You plan to turn me into a red-light for Neko-chan?"

"**Hmm, I guess you could say that; unless of course you have a better idea to stop a rampaging figure with access to a near inexhaustible line of power?"**

Nabiki sighed as she slowly opened her eyes once more, focusing on the bouncing cat-like boy as Minato seemed to disappear in a constant source of yellow flashes, appearing and trying to divert Ranma's attention from the tired elders. But she didn't even know how much longer he could last. One thing she had learned from Nerima was how to spot when a fighter was running low on energy, and Minato's technique was a consumer of energy, no question.

"Fine," she said quietly, hoping she would be enough to save them all. The last thing she wanted was her chances of surviving here—or Ranma's own continued existence—to be further harmed.

"**Well, I guess you are still learning."** Apparently, there was still some of the girl's old selfish nature still present.

"Just get on with it," growled Nabiki.

"**Very well,"** said the Tanuki. **"First, allow me to charge your body. This will allow you to produce what you call a battle aura. In effect, it will layer my chakra or energy around your body, something the energy currently feeding the Nekoken will notice and react to … hopefully in a positive way."**

"Hopefully?" asked Nabiki, eyes wide.

"**I'm sorry, but the Raiju have never faced such a situation before.**

"**Now stand still and try to relax. I need to produce a charged field of energy around you without doing any damage, and your state of being is paramount to that success."**

"And … what happens if you mess up?"

"… **Perhaps we'll save that for after we win, shall we?"**

* * *

Minato stopped his Hiraishin no Jutsu and leapt to the right, shocked as Ranma's chakra claws tore up the earth of where his next planned Hiraishin would have been. "Either I got predictable or this guy is pretty smart." It had buried the special kunai if not damaged or destroyed it. Sure, there were plenty more about the field if he needed to make a quick escape. But he didn't want to waste too much chakra at this point.

Neko-Ranma looked towards his playmate, still smiling. He hadn't had so much fun in … well; he couldn't remember ever having so much fun. Usually he found a nice lap to take a nap in before now, but he couldn't spot any familiar laps, aside from the not-so-nice lap he knew to avoid.

He looked around. The blond guy was really fun, playing tag with him. The older guys weren't being very fun; they got too tired and didn't play well. And those other guys were too tired to play either. The ones in the trees weren't even making a move to join in the fun.

Oh well, the blond guy was probably more fun than them anyway. He'd wait for a bit while the guy caught his breath. When he figured his playmate had caught his breath, he began chasing them again. This was so much fun!

Minato sighed as he performed the Hiraishin no Jutsu once again as Ranma leapt at him. How could he take this fight seriously if he was fighting a playful cat? At least the ANBU were staying back. He had learned from seeing Jiraiya and Sarutobi's actions after attacking Ranma that there was a difference between playful Neko and angry Neko. At least Ranma was staying playful.

But he still needed a way to isolate the boy in an area and figure out a way to activate this curse Nabiki had mentioned. It was obvious that tiring out the kitty would not occur until long after they tired out.

* * *

"**Now allow my aura to flow out. With any luck, the energy used by this fusion will contain enough of my mate's essence to draw him towards us."**

Nabiki blinked. "And then what?" she asked, forgetting that she could just as easily answer in her mind.

"**Hopefully it will be able to isolate him long enough to activate his curse. If not, may I suggest taming the beast as women have done since forgotten times?"**

Nabiki's eyes opened wide at that. _My first time is __**not**__ going to be with Neko-Ranma!_

"**A pity, most women seem to enjoy a bit of animal savagery in their mates."**

_He is __**not my mate!**_

* * *

Minato flashed into the center of the field, panting as he watched Ranma stop his pursuit, sniffing the air. He wasn't sure at the moment what was going on, but he'd take it. He had never run into a force that his Hiraishin no Jutsu had met so much resistance against. It was almost like Ranma could sense which direction he would be coming from. Sure, he had missed by a long distance when he tried to attack, but he had come far closer to connecting than any ninja before. If this was Ranma at his slowest, without proper training of how to control the mindset or even the Raiju chakra it was using, then what would he be like when he did learn the control, the skills?

He smiled a bit, as he realized what sort of potential he was looking at here. And besides, it was always nice to have a counter to any technique, in case the wrong person got their hands on it.

"Meowr?"

Focusing entirely on the fight once again, Minato noticed that Neko-Ranma wasn't really staring at them or any of the other ninjas about.

He was staring at a glowing Nabiki. "She's releasing chakra at such a rate," he murmured, noticing that said chakra seemed to be … beckoning Ranma towards it.

And then it hit him. Nabiki housed a Raiju like Ranma, and the two Raiju were mates. It stood to reason that if Ranma was using chakra directly from the Cat Raiju without filtering it, then the Raiju's emotions and impulses were also running through it.

And it seemed to be working. Neko-Ranma's attention was being more and more devoted to the glowing form of Nabiki. It appeared as if the personality's concentration was torn between the surrounding ninja and the glowing female before him. _Please keep it up a while longer. I need time to pull this off!_

Looking over to the form of his Sensei, he was glad to see that Jiraiya was neither gravely injured by the playful catboy nor drained. He just hoped his former teacher had the chakra and the know-how to pull this off. _I just hope he remembers the proper hand signals,_ he mused, as he flashed several hand signs to his Sensei.

Jiraiya blinked as he cast a glance at his young apprentice. _Water jutsu? Why does he need…? _

_Ah, I see; Ms. Tendo's information on how to trigger the curse. Clever Minato, glad to see being Hokage hasn't made you slow._

* * *

Nabiki however, despite what she may have wished, kept her eyes locked on Neko-Ranma. She would be lying if she claimed she didn't want to run, run from a beast she wasn't sure was still child-like, even after witnessing him play with the local ninja beside her. Like she had proclaimed, she did not desire her first time to be with Ranma in such a state. If she had to be with him, she preferred that he be both male and coherent at the time. She'd prefer that male innocent.

But Ranma wasn't that innocent anymore, not after Saffron. And after her assault by that rogue nin in this world, she wasn't willing to take anything as a given.

Yet here she stood, a colorful aura surrounding her, seemingly hypnotizing Ranma. "This had better work," she mumbled, trying to keep her calm. She knew if nothing else, Ranma's Neko-self followed his inner mind. But given their past, she wasn't willing to trust that his inner mind was friendly about her.

She just hoped she didn't fall under the same rules as a mouse or even dinner.

Minato waited for the right moment, not even beginning his Rasengan attack. If he started it now, Ranma's attention would switch to him. No, he needed to wait until both he was in the air and Ranma was entirely fixated on Nabiki. And judging by how the boy seemed mesmerized by Nabiki's aura, he wouldn't have long to wait. He just hoped his former teacher could send enough water at him in the air before Ranma noticed what was going on. He had to time this just right.

Finally, it appeared, as Saotome stayed still for several moments, simply staring at the way Nabiki's aura was reacting. It would be now or never. He made as high of a leap into air as he could. It was now up to Jiraiya and Nabiki to finish the task. If it failed, he didn't much like the remaining options.

Jiraiya looked to his former apprentice, and reared back. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" he called out, summoning a torrent of water from underground, sending it towards his airborn apprentice, and hoped it worked.

Minato stared at the approaching dragon-shaped attack as he hung in the air, chakra gathering in his hand. There was no way Saotome would stay stationary long enough for them to activate his curse, and the Nekoken personality seemed to be taking the game to even higher levels. They were just lucky that the creature inside Nabiki was able to allure it enough to confine it to one area. Neko-Ranma seemed to be ignoring them, as long as they made no direct move at it, instead focusing more on Nabiki and her Raiju-induced aura.

"Nothing like a little shower to make things clear!" yelled Minato, as the blue chakra coalesced into a ball in his hand. Rearing back, he thrust it into the ball of water. "Rasengan!" The spiraling chakra struck the water dragon, sending it outward in a rush of dissipating droplets, and creating a mini-rain shower upon the destroyed training ground.

And in the center of it all, was one pigtailed teenager, prowling towards a glowing girl with a pageboy haircut, a smile deeply etched on his face.

* * *

Neko-Ranma slowly padded towards the glowing girl. Part of him was very wary of ever approaching said girl. She never was very nice to him, never had any good food, and her lap never really seemed inviting to take a nap in.

An inviting lap was very important to a cat after all.

But her smell had changed. For some reason, it made her seem … inviting to him now. It made him feel weird, like a few times when the older sister offered to feed him before he took a nap, and she had less fur on than normal.

Maybe she had changed? Her lap did seem a bit more inviting now; she also seemed to be calling him towards her without sounding bad. And her scent … made him feel a bit funny, but in a good way. Maybe he would see if her lap was a nice place to sleep now, everything seemed to be telling him it was.

As he leapt into the air, he didn't even notice the descending rain until it landed on him, and thus shifting both mind and body to new foci.

* * *

"You know," said Jiraiya, gaping at the Raiju containers, "that's pretty hot."

"Agreed."

Minato ignored his perverted predecessor and Sensei as he worked on a puppet-ninja trick he had studied. It sure made it easier to gather his altered kunai than simply walking about and collecting them, plus the chakra strings were great exercises for control. "Perverts," he mumbled, keeping an eye on the now redheaded Ranma. The last thing he wanted was any rumors starting up about him checking out other redheads. Kushina was still a bit upset at him missing their last date, and he certainly didn't want to thin the ice he was on with her anymore than it already was.

Ranma looked around from her position on top of Nabiki, her focus coming back as she looked around, and a feeling of slight exhaustion that seemed familiar to her. "Um … what happened?"

Nabiki just smiled before she swatted her in the side. "Welcome back Ranma. Now get off, Saotome, you're heavy."

"I take it you're back to normal?" said the familiar voice of the blond village leader, dragging the pigtailed girl's thoughts away from the embarrassing situation she found herself in.

Blinking, the redhead slowly stood up, ignoring several gaping stares, as she looked around at the slightly damp field. She could spot several areas that seemed to be thrashed that she didn't recall happening during her exam. In fact, the last thing she remembered before waking up on Nabiki was…

"Shit," she growled, rubbing her forehead. "Can't believe I forgot about that."

"Well I hope you remember now."

Spinning around, Ranma saw what looked like the tired forms of the adults. Minato was placing several strange-looking kunai back into his pouches while staring at the neo-girl.

"Because Saotome, we are going to have a long talk about your new form," he said, motioning at her, "and this Nekoken."

The redhead cringed at that. She just knew no matter what, she was in for it now. And the worst part was she knew the man would not be dissuaded by any of her usually talk-dodging attempts. Somehow, she knew that even this would not end well for her.

It never did.

* * *

As the female medic-nin left the room, Ranma slowly dressed, trying to suppress any and all shudders from her first female-form medical examination. Somehow, when she thought she was going to get punished for forgetting to mention the curse and the Nekoken, this was the farthest thought from her mind.

"Stop whining, Ranma," said Nabiki, staring out the window, as she had since the exam finished. "Girls with enough insurance or bank usually go through that once or even twice a year. Surely you can cope with it once." She knew she wasn't being fair—even she had had Kasumi to help her through the experience her first visit to have such things, but her mood was a little too sour and unstable to be the secure hand at the moment. Otherwise, she would have been a bit gentler with Ranma's anguish at the moment.

Ranma's eyes narrowed, quickly turning to focus on her companion. "I'm a guy!"

Nabiki slowly turned back to face her, trying hard not to show any fear from her earlier encounter with the new Nekoken. "And? Are you saying that a guy can't handle something a girl can?" she asked, trying to suppress her earlier fear and trying to force her old shell to the forefront. She really needed some time to think, her usual mentality having been through the proverbial ringer the last few weeks. It looked like her usual Ice Queen mindset was a thing of the past now, and she would be forced to deal with these new emotions running through her, thanks to her new tenant.

Ranma just growled, but turned away. She just sat there on the medical bed, looking at a spot on the wall as she pulled on the clothes that the village had offered her and Nabiki. Right now, all she wanted to do was turn back into a guy, and try to forget the horrors of what she had been 'asked' to go through.

"We should have told them sooner."

"What?" asked Ranma, her mind and focus back on Nabiki, forgetting about uncomfortable probings of minutes earlier.

"We should have told them about the Nekoken, your curse, everything. I guess we got too jaded in Nerima, assuming what we didn't say was already known. My fault really, I'm usually better prepared than that."

Ranma could only sigh as she finally stood up, making her way over to the sink by the wall, and hoping that the hot water hadn't 'mysteriously broken down' or something like that, all too used to the frequent breakdowns of the hot water heaters at the Tendo Dojo and Furinkan. "Not your fault, I just thought the curse would have come up by now."

Nabiki just nodded.

"Um, Nabiki?"

"Hmm?"

"I didn't do anything really bad when I went … um … you know?" she asked, as she turned on the hot water tap and waited.

Nabiki shook her head. "I think your Neko-side is still into a kitten mentality. It felt the others were playing with it. No malice or anything bad … aside from it drawing energy from the Raiju inside of you."

"Yeah, I was hoping it was like that," said Ranma, as she stuck her hand under the running water, smiling as she felt her form shift to the male gender once again. "The Raiju said it'd help me get control over the Nekoken, but I ain't really chatted with him since I had my curse activated."

"You can't speak to him?" asked Nabiki, somewhat surprised.

"What, you can talk to that Tanuki?" asked Ranma.

"I can barely get her to shut up at times," muttered the Tendo girl.

"**I'll have you know I have been quiet plenty of times. I just insert my opinion when I feel it will offer the most effect,"** admitted the Raiju to her host.

Nabiki just snorted, and ignoring Ranma's look of confusion, decided to get some information. "Okay then, you explain why I can speak to you directly in my head, and Ranma doesn't even have a hint of that?"

"**If your friend who houses my mate is truly fearful of cats, then my mate will not make such a connection until his mind can handle it. When I speak, your subconscious forms an image of me speaking. Even if your conscious mind does not see that image, it is there. And what would happen if your friend had the image of my mate?"**

Nabiki shivered at that. If what the Tanuki had said was true, then every time the Raiju inside of Ranma would try and speak to him, it would send him into the Nekoken. They had been lucky this time that not only had the Village Leader kept his guard back, but had been able to activate Ranma's curse to end any possible threat from the playful kitten.

Of course, the problem was also they didn't know what would be needed for the playful kitten to change into an adult with a craving for blood.

"**Now that is unfair. Sure, my mate's power seemed to be absorbed by that fusion, but surely any technique that seems to rely on the user's inner-self would not become a blood-thirsty killing machine … unless Ranma is actually a bloody-thirsty killing machine.**

"**Is he such?"** asked Gobi.

Nabiki slowly turned back to face her companion. She knew Ranma wasn't the type to do such, but that was also what many people thought before the neighbor was arrested for being a mass murderer and it was revealed that the reason his backyard had so many plants was to cover the freshly made graves.

But Ranma couldn't be like that, could he? After all that had occurred to him in Nerima, everything he had been dragged into, he would have shown signs before now. Hell, she was all but certain that the boy would blush and try and escape if a naked girl appeared before him.

But this world…? It was going to change them, she was certain of that, it had already changed her. In fact, she craved it, perhaps more than even Ranma craved to be the best. Part of her wanted to be stronger. It wasn't the Raiju in her, or her feelings about her assault. No, part of her craved the skill, the power offered by her circumstances. Maybe it was because this world valued a combination of skills that she only possessed one of, or her own fears made real and voiced in this world, fears no longer submerged by the Ice Queen persona.

She didn't know, but she knew she would continue forward, and have to hope that in the end she became a person her soul could live with.

And she wanted Ranma there with her, as a guide, a guard, and an ally. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man was King, and in this world, Ranma was at least a Duke. And in this dimension she needed as many iron-clad resources as she could get. This wasn't Tokyo or even Nerima anymore, those rules didn't apply. This was a new game and one she was woefully unprepared to play.

But she was playing with Ranma, and her teammate was her only hope now, no matter how badly it originally sounded. She didn't plan to bed him, marry him, despite what the blasted Tanuki thought.

Well, maybe for now anyway. They were changing, and it would be foolish to assume what was true now would be true in the future, that their views would remain the same when they did not.

"Ranma, how long before the Raiju inside you can help you overcome the fear of the Nekoken?"

Ranma scratched the back of his neck under his pigtail, trying to remember the conversation with the Raiju. "He didn't say, just said he'd help me with it. Come ta think of it, he didn't speak to me at all since before that test."

Nabiki nodded, as her head turned back towards the window. "Ranma … make him work fast. I don't think they like the idea of a berserker behind these walls."

"Come on, Nabiki," said Ranma, "the Nekoken ain't ever hurt anyone."

"Ranma, your bloodied now," said Nabiki. "Even if Saffron came back you still killed. How long before it wants or needs to kill again? Can you really count on a power you can't control if the need ever comes up again?"

Ranma could only blink at that. Sure, he had killed Saffron, but it wasn't like he needed a fresh offering of blood everyday. "What do you mean?"

"Ranma, even if that side of you acts like a newborn, how long before it grows up?"

Ranma could only blink owlishly at that. He couldn't really answer that. He wished he could, but his memory of any event while under the Nekoken was iffy at best, nothing at the worst. Usually his first and last memories of such events were usually after the Nekoken took over and before it activated. Between those moments, he had no memory, and had to rely on others to explain what he had done.

Needless to say, he either spent a lot of time denying or a lot of time trying to even imagine undertaking such actions.

Nabiki took his silence to mean he understood, even confirming it by looking at him. She could spot Ranma lying a kilometer away, even if only to support his ego or his personality. The fact he looked confused and even slightly apprehensive meant he understood what was at stake. "Ranma, find him, talk with him, and get that side of you under control as quickly as possible. We might not get—no, we won't get a second chance at that. Do you really think they'd let a wild card like the Nekoken remain as it is? We aren't dealing with Nerima people here; they won't pretend it never happened. They'll have to take some action and we have no guarantee that it'll be something we like or can even accept."

Ranma slowly nodded, wanting nothing more than to be back where he understood how things worked. Here, he couldn't just pretend things didn't happen.

"How soon?" asked Nabiki.

"Well, he spoke to me when I was asleep," said Ranma. "He stopped explaining things to me when you woke me up," he finished.

"We really need you to figure out a way around this then," Nabiki admitted. Somehow, getting kicked out of Konoha wasn't a good idea, she knew that. The village seemed to be very … humane, in her opinion. And tales of other villages never seemed to measure up to that standard, assuming she was getting reliable facts and not colored truths. "According to the Gobi no Tanuki, if he tried to talk to you in your mind like she can with me, it would probably send you into the Nekoken, if that helps you any."

Ranma cringed at that. He remembered enough of his dream to know that was definitely true. "So what … I should take a nap now?" he asked.

"I think we could all use one," she murmured, rubbing her forehead, wondering just what sort of Nerima-reject world they had wandered into. Super-powered fighters wielding techniques, summoning creatures, and insanely powerful fighting styles: it was some weird extreme version of Nerima molded with some sort of manga storyline.

"**I fail to see how you can compare these two worlds like that,"** said Gobi. **"After all, you have been here for this long and I have yet to see one female proclaim themselves engaged to him through unclear means."**

Nabiki fought hard not to have her right eye start twitching at that.

* * *

"How long before they get you the results?" asked Jiraiya, as the trio awaited on the roof of the hospital.

"Probably another half hour," said Sarutobi, lighting his pipe. At least the medics couldn't yell at him for smoking here. Then again, only the medical personnel really were brave enough to ask the Village Kage to not smoke inside their domain. That's why he respected them so much, definitely not a group of 'yes-men'.

"Good," said Jiraiya, "because I need to start making some plans to train my new apprentice."

Minato looked over at his former teacher. "I'm betting you agreed to that idea the moment you saw him shift to his female form."

"Really, what kind of person do you take me for?" asked Jiraiya, trying unsuccessfully to appear innocent.

"The type to try and convince Ranma to use his female form to get you better opportunities for 'research' and such," said Sarutobi with a smile.

Minato just shook his head. From what he knew about the boy so far, he highly doubted his former teacher would have much luck on that front. But at the very least, they had part of Ranma's problems covered: he was going to get some training. Granted, most of that would either be spent trying to get the Toad Sannin to train him or avoiding the fallout from his antics.

He just needed to ensure his Sensei didn't take short cuts and skive off from training the newest recruit to peep. It was probably a hopeless idea, but he owed it to Ranma to at least try.

"I'll train Nabiki," said Sarutobi. "If I could help Jiraiya make something of himself when I was younger, I can't wait to see what a willing student could learn from me now."

"HEY!"

The two Hokages chuckled at the joke.

Jiraiya ignored them for a bit, before leaning against the balcony, looking over his former home. "It'll be interesting to say the least. It seems the Bijuu … Raiju … whatever they are, have no trouble with lending them their power. At the least, they hold back the flow enough to keep from overloading their chakra coils. Teaching them to draw that power would be useless; it's already theirs for the asking."

Sarutobi nodded. "This is true, but they need to learn control, focus, and the skills to wield that in ways other than blunt force. Without that control, that power would be of little practical use, and depending solely on that power to sustain them in a battle would be foolhardy. The woman has no training in chakra at all."

"And Ranma needs to learn if he can convert those ki reserves of his into the type of chakra we use," continued Jiraiya. "Though that ki stuff might be useful for those who can't mold chakra. Might have to even come up with a new style of jutsu to use it."

"True," said Minato. He knew a few recruits for the Academy were always incapable of utilizing chakra. At best, they could use the body's natural chakra to enhance their taijutsu, but molding it beyond that was impossible. If ki could grant abilities to replace those lost skill subsets…

The door to the roof opening grabbed their attention, as they focused on a familiar medic-nin peeking out.

"Excuse me, sirs," said Karada, a smile on his face. "I do believe you'll want to talk about the results … in private."

* * *

"Are you certain," said Sarutobi, who had a bit more medical knowledge of the three.

"Yes sir," said Karada. "We've detected levels of telomerase in his cells, not high enough to perhaps trigger a cancer reaction, but enough that his cells are reproducing without limit or ill effects. To be frank, his cells exhibit all the properties of an immortal cell line."

"I'm guessing that's good," said Jiraiya, not as knowing about medical terms, as that had been more along the studies of his former teammates.

Karada nodded happily. "We're still not certain of the how or even the why this is occurring, I've been studying this prospect since his arrival here and the early tests hinted at it. But my best guess so far would either put this as a possible developing kekkei genkai or a possible natural response brought on by some training in his world.

"Either way, if we study this, we might even be able to overcome certain drawbacks of our current array of medical jutsus, namely the result of forcing cells to divide too quickly."

Even Jiraiya understood that one. He remembered Tsunade talking about how certain rapid healing jutsus could actually shorten a person's life span if used too much, such as her famous Souzou Saisei. "That might actually get Tsunade to come back to the Village," he said, chuckling.

But the joke was lost on Sarutobi, as he considered how his final student would take such knowledge. Orochimaru would love to get his hands on such information, and most likely had already been informed on some level about the newest arrivals. But he would hold off until the man established a working base for himself. "I ask that you guard this research carefully. And as well, ensure ANBU level safeguards on all documents and experimentation. This is not a secret we can let out at the moment, not with both the instability within our world and his inability to properly defend himself."

Jiraiya nodded at the last part, even as he began to understand why the Old Man was reacting as such. _Well, it looks like my new student will be getting more of my personal attention than normal._

"And what of Nabiki's final medical workup?" asked Minato. "Does she share this trait as she did some of the possible Sharingan bloodline?"

Karada shook his head. "No sir, she lacks this reaction."

"Kid's got it bad," chuckled Jiraiya. "Possible Sharingan heritage and a form of regeneration without the drawbacks; he'll be hounded by every kunoichi that wants a strong kid."

"That's why the former ability is classified," said Minato, glaring at his Sensei. "Otherwise, the Uchiha would stop at near nothing to acquire the two into their clan, not to mention them being targeted by other villages as possible stock to develop their own Sharingan or some related bloodline. There isn't even a guarantee that if they develop it in this generation or the next, it will even follow the same path it did here."

"Fine, fine," waved off Jiraiya. It just removed one option for his 'research', it didn't silence them all.

The group was soon interrupted as several ANBU appeared on the rooftop, members sent by the Third to track down Orochimaru and the young kunoichi he listed as 'kidnapped'.

"Sir," said one of the three ANBU. The one wearing a cat mask seemed to be the spokesmen of the group, while the two others: a bird and a cow, stood by their side.

"Yes?" asked Minato.

"We've returned from the Sea Country, sir," said the man. "We found a base of Orochimaru's there, as well as some evidence he abandoned."

"Anybody found alive?" asked Minako.

"We found his apprentice," he replied. "She was weakened, unfed, and locked in a shed."

Sarutobi sighed. "I guess Anko found out why her Sensei fled in the night," he said sadly.

"Early interrogations revealed she has no memory of any events at the location we found her, but she believes she was left because Orochimaru felt she was useless to him now."

The former Hokage had to sigh at that. The young kunoichi practically worshipped her Sensei. Right now, he doubted she had much confidence to at that moment of being found to even want to live, let alone lie to anyone asking her anything at the moment. It was hard to hold anything back when your world was shattered. "Where is she now?"

"We took her to the Medical Corps," he said. "We placed her under heavy ANBU guards as requested by Ibiki."

"I'm guessing there's more," said Minato.

"She was treated well," said Sarutobi. He remembered his orders to that team, even explained to them what was to occur if they found Anko alive. He had no doubt Orochimaru would have spun some tale to convince her to follow him. But if nothing else, Anko was loyal to Konoha.

"That is why she was taken to Medical instead of the interrogation facilities," said the man.

"Did something happen at Medical?" asked Sarutobi, hoping that someone hadn't taken their hatred of Orochimaru out of an innocent.

"That's it sir," said the nervous ANBU. "We watched over her in the hospital like you said. But she … escaped."

Sarutobi just chuckled at that. It wasn't every day that a kid made fools of the local ANBU. "She's probably still in the hospital, a bit scared with everything changing as it is. Come along, I'll help you find her and help settle her down. And then … maybe she can tell us what Orochimaru was up to there in Sea Country after she gets her mind straight."

* * *

Ranma yawned as he slowly returned to the waking world. As his eyes cleared, he silently cursed in his head. Obviously, something must have happened aside from him simply going into the Nekoken since the giant Raiju cat hadn't started to chat with him again in his dreams.

_Maybe the Nekoken drained him too much or something, I mean, I had to get that power boost from somewhere._

_Stupid weak six tailed Raiju; can't handle a simple Nekoken._

Groaning slightly as he felt a different call of nature demanding attention, he slowly extracted himself from Nabiki's embrace, quickly slipping a pillow between her arms.

_Man, she's gotten real clingy since that idiot attacked her. I mean, where's the old fire in her?_ He really was starting to worry about the middle Tendo, her attitude lately was starting to show how much she had changed from the general pain in the ass he knew before.

Then again, having experienced the technique that had unsettled her, he could somewhat understand her actions lately. Nabiki wasn't used to being a target like that.

_Maybe I'm just being too hard on her; I mean it ain't like she's gone through what the tomboy went through. I don't think anyone ever kidnapped her._

_Well, Toma might of, but she enjoyed that._ For all he knew, it was true. Nabiki didn't talk about what she had dealt with on Toma's island … unless you paid her for it.

Stretching, he made his way towards the bathroom offered to the private room, glad that they had at least offered such when they 'insisted' on doing a complete workup on his girl side. He sure as hell didn't want to share a communal bath at the moment, as he doubted he could enjoy a nice hot soak in either side of the bath.

_With my luck, all the hot water would fail when I go to the guys' side or the taps would explode in the girls' side. Then again, if I went on the girls' side, I'd be labeled a permanent hentai._

Nodding to himself that he had happened upon a chance of using the restroom, maybe even a bath and perhaps enjoying it while Nabiki slept, he opened the door.

"Do you mind?," said a small girl, staring at him from where she was … occupied. "I'm busy here!"

His eye twitching, Ranma stepped back and shut the door. "Damn it," he grumbled, "I can't even take a piss now without some girl getting in the way."

"Tell the guards to stand down."

Blinking, he turned around, catching sight of the former Hokage standing next to several people wearing animal masks.

"It would appear that Saotome has found little Anko."


	5. Shadows of Family

**Shinobi One-Half**

**Chapter 5**

**Shadows of Family**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

* * *

Ranma looked at the Hokage and the assembled guard of guys wearing animal masks. "Please tell me you ain't asking to cut in line," said Ranma. "I really gotta go."

Sarutobi chuckled at those words. "No fear, Ranma. I'm merely here to escort Anko back to her room."

"And she ain't got a toilet there?" asked Ranma, annoyance in his voice.

Sarutobi's reply was cut off as the door to the bathroom opened slightly, allowing Anko to peek out. "Hello Anko," he said calmly.

"Hokage-sama," she responded quietly.

"Not since a few days ago, I'm afraid," he replied in a grandfatherly tone. "Minato was named the Fourth about a day after Orochimaru … left the village."

"I see," she replied, eyes lowering a bit after hearing the reminder of what her former teacher did.

"You two done?" asked Ranma. "Cause if you are, could you get outta the way, I gotta go!"

Anko's nervousness vanished, her eyes focusing into a glare at the pigtailed teen. "Go somewhere else," she hissed.

"Hey, you're the one who broke into my bathroom!" stated Ranma, pointing his finger at her. "You go somewhere else. I was nice enough to let you finish your business," he said, flushing slightly in embarrassment that he had walked in on her. "But now you gotta go."

"Make me," she growled.

The Hokage held back the ANBU, watching the scene before him. Who knew, maybe a small confrontation would help the chuunin get back her fire and rekindle the young kunoichi he remembered.

"Hey!" she yelled as Ranma began pushing against the door.

Normally, he wouldn't have forced the issue like that. But she was dressed, she was in his room, in his bathroom, and he wasn't about to get kicked out like that, not after the day he had, and not with as bad as he needed to go.

When you got to go, you got to go, angry tomboy be damned.

"Pervert!" she yelled, trying to force the door closed.

"Go away, 'Kane," mumbled Nabiki, as she pulled the blankets tighter against herself, taking advantage of Ranma's absence.

"I ain't the idiot too stupid to remember to lock the door!" growled Ranma, as he forced the door further back. The girl may have had some training, but Ranma was still clearly the winner in strength, forcing the door open further.

Anko growled, determined not to lose. For the moment, the ANBU, the traitorous sensei she would have died for who had abandoned her, the Hokage; these people were out of her thoughts. She was focused on one thing: defeating the boy who dared cross her and was trying to kick her out of the bathroom.

"Sen'eijashu!" she cried, hopping back and thrusting her arms before her. Four snakes seemed to immediately launch themselves from the sleeves of her small coat, heading directly towards the boy who came stumbling through the bathroom door.

Ranma blinked as the four snakes curled around his limbs, trying to immobilize him, before quickly sinking their fangs into him, injecting their venom.

On any other person, they would have dropped to the floor in under five seconds from the venom, strategically placed for maximum effectiveness in minimum time—couldn't give an enemy-nin time to fight back. If it had been anyone else, the Hokage's ANBU escort would have shoved their way through the door, knocking the snakes away in time to save the fool from a painful fall to the floor.

These ANBU however had been present during Kurenai's awakening of the Nekoken.

Ranma just blinked as he looked at the snakes wrapped both around his arms and legs, and sinking their teeth into him. For a moment, he tried to identify them to see if he'd ever been bitten by them before—Genma's venom tolerance training was something he could never forget. He knew they were pumping their venom into him … but he felt … nothing. "You done yet?" asked Ranma, looking back at the weird girl.

"Saotome?"

Ranma hissed slightly, as he turned to face the partially awakened form of Nabiki. "Yeah?" he asked, trying to ignore the small formation of bed-hair the girl now sported.

"Are there snakes biting you?" she asked, her voice still suggesting she was partially asleep.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Why?"

Ranma just shrugged. "They'll stop soon, snakes are nature's quitters," he mused, looking on as one snake seemed to fall to the ground before disappearing in a puff. "That's new, though."

Nabiki nodded as she got out of the bed. The assembled people just watched in awe as she walked tiredly past the ANBU, past Ranma, gently pushed Anko—her snakes still attached—out of the bathroom, before shutting the door.

"Damn," muttered Ranma as yet another snake—this one from the other arm—fell off and disappeared in a puff of smoke. "HEY!" he yelled, as his outrage surfaced, ignoring the shocked looks of the Leaf Ninja around him, as he tried the door.

"Wait your turn, Saotome," came the voice from inside the now locked bathroom.

"Damn it," muttered Ranma, as the final two snakes fell off and vanished. Head falling in resignation, he turned towards the shocked kunoichi. "I'm Ranma Saotome," he said, smile on his face as he tried not to think about his visit to the restroom being delayed once again.

Anko just stared at him, her eyes occasionally going to the closed door. This guy, someone who shrugged off venom that would have dropped most jounin or at least given them some balance issues, was … offering his hand to her? "Anko Mitarashi," she said, shaking his hand slowly.

Ranma just smiled, trying to push past the thoughts of a full bladder, and focusing on his … guests. "So Anko, why did you sneak into my bathroom?" he asked. "I mean, really, there's got to be …several more on this floor," he murmured as the thought finally hit him. Why did he need to wait for Nabiki to get finished; he could just go use another bathroom.

Well, he could … if not for the animal-mask ninjas and the former Hokage standing by the door, and the fact he just knew something was up. People didn't visit him for fun; they visited because they were in trouble, or angry at him, or engaged to him, or…

_Man, how come I don't have any normal friends?_ he mentally grumbled.

Anko just stood there nervously, trying to think of an answer.

"Anko was on her way to talk to us about her former teacher," offered Sarutobi.

"This Orochimaru guy?" asked Ranma, catching a sad look growing on Anko's face.

"He was a traitor," spat Anko.

Sarutobi nodded, his own guilt weighing heavily on him. If he had stopped his old student when he had had the chance, when the Monkey King Enma had begged him to, then Anko would not be suffering now as she was. She would not have that cursed mark on her body, she would not be subjected to Ibiki's questioning, the ridicule of the villagers for who her teacher was, and more.

All because he had failed to act, failed to protect the Village, those who were precious to him when the time came, all because of what he felt for his former prized pupil.

At the very least, he would sit in on Anko's debriefing, he would try and soften the blow that the Council would try to level against the kunoichi when the report was finished.

He would do all he could for her. "Yes, Orochimaru betrayed the village, conducted … experiments of the most inhuman kind," he said.

Ranma nodded, his eyes drifting down to the girl. "And how does this affect Anko here?" he asked.

"Before he left, he kidnapped Anko here under the illusion it was a mission," said Sarutobi sadly. "We need to know anything and everything that happened at that time … if we are to stop him."

Ranma nodded, as he stared down at Anko. "So her teacher screwed up… No biggie," he said with a shrug, to the surprise of all there.

"Huh?" asked Anko in shock, half expecting him to react in a different manner.

"Yeah," Ranma said, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, jackass teachers and sensei aren't new to me," Ranma said. "Hell, I got one that claims I'm his heir, creates nothing but trouble, and then leaves me with the bill," he finished, before grumbling something that sounded like 'damned old letch.'

"I see," said Sarutobi with a smile, glad that at least the newcomer was going to give Anko a fair chance. "We'll just have to have a chat about those former teachers when you and Nabiki meet Minato and myself in a few hours."

"Okay," Ranma said with a sigh. Nothing good could ever come from talking about Happosai. _Thank the Kami I don't have to deal with someone like that here._

* * *

"Achoo!"

"Bless you," said a female bathing in the bath house.

"Thank you," said a male voice.

The woman smiled, before she started blinking, and turned towards the source of the voice, making out a mane of white hair. "EEEEEEK! PERVERT!"

* * *

"Will Anko be there?" asked Ranma.

Sarutobi shook his head. "She'll still be working on her report," said the elderly man. "Besides, the meeting is more for the two of you," he finished. "It is about your applications to become part of Konoha."

"Wait," said Anko. "You mean he's not even a Leaf Nin?" she asked.

Ranma just snorted. "Kid, you don't know the half of—" he paused as he heard the door unlock.

Opening slightly, Nabiki smiled upon the group. "We'll be ther—Saotome!" she yelled, as he lifted her up and set her outside of the bathroom.

"Gottago!" he cried, as he slammed the door shut, remembering to lock it out of habit from the Tendo Dojo. He most certainly did not need any short-tempered perverted tomboys barging in on him at the moment.

Nabiki just smirked as she stretched; glad to have gotten the slight nap in. Apparently the trick she had used to stall Neko-Ranma had been somewhat draining on her as well. "Well, bad manners of Saotome aside, we'll be there."

Her eyes then tilted towards the ANBU. "I assume Anko here will be treated with … care?" she asked, her tone neutral. "The last thing I need at the moment is another attempt to calm down Saotome because someone went and did something stupid to someone he considers a friend."

Sarutobi nodded slightly. "She'll be treated well, I assure you. None of us believe Anko was a willing member of Orochimaru's machinations. We simply wish to get all we can in hopes of stopping him."

Nabiki nodded as she headed over towards the bed. "Good, better ask his teacher then. The good ones will usually do all they can to stop a person like that."

Sarutobi remained quiet as he signaled the others to head out, his hand on Anko's shoulder. "Come along, Anko. The sooner we get started, the sooner I can treat you to some dango."

The young kunoichi nodded meekly as she was escorted out, casting one last glance at the closed bathroom door, before finally making her way to the exit.

After the group was gone and the door shut, Nabiki sat on the bed, eyes narrowed as she went over not only what she had heard from inside the bathroom, but her observations from now.

"**The child is somewhat scared, but trusts the former … Hokage,"** commented Gobi.

Nabiki nodded. _It seems like this place isn't too fond of anything connected to bad memories, and this Orochimaru sounds like one of the worst kind, a kind that will have the student paying for the sins of the teacher._

"**Indeed, they wish to burn anything sprouting from the seeds of betrayal, even if the plant that blossoms from the seeds of the offending plant are perfect. I must say that this presents a dark side for this village."**

"Good," murmured Nabiki. In her life, she had always seen how more often than not, things too good to be true always were. The fact that the village had a dark side, one not hidden from the eyes of the public, made it … realistic.

"**Quite a cynical view you're taking,"** dryly commented the Tanuki Raiju.

Her inner monolog was interrupted as the door to the bathroom opened, revealing a less-stressed pigtailed youth.

"Much better," sighed Ranma, wiping his hands on some paper towels, before tossing them over his head and into the trashcan behind him. As he looked around the room, his eyes narrowed. "Where'd everyone go?"

Nabiki could only shake her head. Just her luck to be stuck with a guy who had a superhero complex. Reaching into a nearby desk, she pulled out a scroll she had been reading. "You think a village this advanced would have learned to put stuff in a book," she murmured.

If she was going to be a ninja, she needed to learn the basics.

And the single basic of being a ninja … was chakra.

* * *

"Thank you for coming," said Minato, as the ANBU guards escorted Ranma and Nabiki into his office.

"Not a problem," said Nabiki, as she glanced at the guards beside her. "Though the hired help could have been less … noticeable," she stated. The fact that they needed so many public guards unnerved the Tendo girl a bit. She did after all have a very powerful Raiju inside of her. If they felt she needed even more protection… She internally shuddered a bit at the idea that there was something out there that could still get to her.

"What happened to you?" asked Ranma, staring at the white-haired Sannin.

"Training accident," commented the heavily bruised and bandaged man.

Minato snorted. "Yeah, helping young kunoichi and civilian women learn self defense." With that, the Hokage dismissed the ANBU. What was about to be discussed was not meant for their ears.

"Ungrateful brat," muttered Jiraiya. "After all I did for you…"

"Gentlemen, if we could," interrupted Sarutobi, hoping to prevent another argument between the two.

"Who's the new guy?" asked Ranma, pointing to the medic-nin standing in the corner.

"My name is Karada," said the man with a smile, bowing to the two.

"If everyone could take a seat," motioned Sarutobi, as he motioned towards Jiraiya.

The Sannin nodded, as his hands flashed rapidly through a dozen hand signs, before he slammed his left palm on the wall. A flash spread outwards, engulfing the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room.

"What the hell was that?" muttered Ranma in awe.

"That, my new apprentice, is a special barrier that will give us some privacy from any and all possible surveillance methods for the next half hour," proudly proclaimed Jiraiya. The fact that he invented it to keep certain fans from learning of what he had written for his next book was left unsaid.

"I see," said Nabiki quietly. "And since a doctor is here," she said, motioning towards Karada, "I assume you found something in our scans."

"Correct," said Karada. "Actually, I found one thing in your tests and two things in the tests of Mr. Saotome."

"He's pregnant, isn't he?" asked Nabiki with a smile.

"WHAT?" yelled Ranma, eyes wide, his face rapidly paling.

"No," said Karada, tone flat. "Though the possibilities of such…"

"Karada, if we could stay on topic," pushed Minato.

"Ah, yes," said the embarrassed medic-nin. "Anyway, first for Mr. Saotome," he said, handing the man a folder. "Tell me, Mr. Saotome, have you ever noticed how quickly you heal compared to others?"

Ranma blinked at the question as he took the folder. "I do?" he asked uncertainly. "I mean, yeah I heal quicker than my Old Man does…"

Nabiki nodded as she looked at the information in the folder. While medical jargon was more Kasumi's area of expertise, the middle Tendo did know some of it—which helped for certain 'projects' she worked on from time to time. Most of the words she couldn't make out, but the notations stating about extreme healing factor with no negative consequences did make sense. "He's gone from a full body cast to fighting in two days time if that helps," muttered Nabiki.

"Yeah, that was a little quick for me," murmured Ranma as he recalled the incident. "But I'm tougher now," he said with a smile.

"I see," said Karada. "Mr. Saotome, this healing factor of yours, was it hereditary or is this a technique you learned?"

Scratching the base of his pigtail as Nabiki flipped through the sheets of paper, Ranma tried to think back to his early training under his father "Come to think of it, the Old Man never did teach me much in healing," he murmured. "And he does heal pretty quickly, I can't tell you the number of times he's bounced back from a beat-down."

Karada nodded, pulling out a small notebook and making several notations in it. "Environment factors then added with a biological factor," he murmured, an odd gleam in his eye. Yes, this was supporting his theory that the healing factor could very well be an emerging kekkei genkai.

"So why is the fact Saotome heals so quick important?" asked Nabiki.

"Mr. Saotome's healing factor quite frankly presents several exciting possibilities," said Karada, slipping into a lecture mode. "By studying his cell structure and methods of replication, we could learn ways to improve our own medical techniques.

"You see, Ranma's cells contain a enzyme called telomerase. Its what allows our body's cells to divide without wearing out. Now, too much present inside a cell could cause it to go cancerous."

Ranma attention became instantly riveted to the man. He certainly didn't want to get such a disease. He'd heard more than his share of horror stories about it on the road, something that had taken down even some of the Style Masters he had hoped to fight and learn under on his training journey.

"Now, our current healing techniques can cause rapid cell division to heal injuries," Karada continued. "But we can do nothing about the telomerase levels. As such, there is only so much we can do before we risk full cellular breakdown of the damaged area. Even if we don't, there could be damage from forcing the cells to divide as we needed to, leading to scarring and even perhaps long-term damage to the area."

"But Ranma doesn't have that issue," said Nabiki.

"Correct; even when rapidly dividing to repair damage, the cells manufacture telomerase on their own. Saotome's cells manufacture an unheard of level while maintaining functionality and any possible cancerous reactions."

"So … I heal really fast and I don't have to worry about cancer?" said Ranma uncertainly.

"Basically, yeah," said Minato, cutting Karada off from replying.

Nabiki nodded as her eyes noticed something missing: there was no mention of the length Ranma's cells could keep up such a process. She knew enough about medical matters to know that cells wearing out was a major cause of aging. If Ranma's cells never wore out, did that mean he could and would live longer than a normal human—well, normal when compared to some of the geriatrics living in and around Nerima? Either they didn't know or weren't ready to tell them.

"**Immortality is not always an enjoyable event,"** commented Gobi, her tone somewhat sad. **"There is also the possibility of some form of it being given to you thanks to our joining."**

_Is this another attempt by you to get me closer to Ranma?_

The Raiju remained silent.

"And the other thing?" asked Ranma.

Karada pulled out two folders, handing one to each of the transdimensional teenagers. "Do you have anything in your world similar to the Sharingan?"

Nabiki blinked at the question in surprise. "You mean that Instant Copy technique that white-haired kid used during Ranma's test?"

Minato nodded. "The Sharingan is a kekkei genkai, or a bloodline limit, of the Uchiha Clan. They are a dojutsu, specifically a bloodline limit of the eyes. The Sharingan allows its wielder to copy just about any taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu technique they witness. It grants an incredible clarity of perception, allowing them to track fast-moving objects with ease and even predict the subsequent movements of those objects. The users can even track the flow of chakra to an extent, be used to empower a genjutsu, as well as grants the user exceptional analytical powers, allowing them to instinctively pick up on various visual clues with little difficulty."

"Sounds pretty powerful," said Nabiki.

Ranma just snorted. "Sounds like something Copycat Ken put in his camera," he said. Seeing the questioning gaze of the ninjas, he continued. "Guy has this camera he uses to take a picture of you, then uses his copycat handkerchief over himself, transforming into an exact double of you. When he's like that, if he sees you perform a technique just once, he can pull off the same move near perfectly."

Nabiki nodded, her mind turning over the information. "And you think we have this … ability?" she asked.

"You have several genetic markers similar to what we've witnessed in the Uchiha Clan," said Karada. "Once again, they show up more in Saotome than you, Ms. Tendo."

"So we might develop this then?" asked Ranma.

Karada shook his head. "You both are missing several possible key genes needed to materialize the kekkei genkai."

"This is also being kept secret because while you won't be able to acquire this kekkei genkai on your own, it would nearly assure that any child you have with an Uchiha would possess the Sharingan," said Minato.

"Great," muttered Ranma.

"I take it the secret is because you don't wish us to be breeding stock for them?" asked Nabiki. "Bad blood?"

"Konoha was founded mainly by two clans," said Sarutobi. "They were the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan, both very powerful. Afterwards, the head of the Uchiha clan had a … falling out with his clan over the path they were taking in Konoha. When his clan refused to follow him, instead siding with the First Hokage, the man grew angry and tried to overthrow the First. While we do not hold the clan responsible for the acts of one man, it did create some bad blood. Add to that the fact that clan politics would drive them towards strengthening their power base…"

"Right," said Nabiki. "They'd have their people get close to us for what we could offer, perhaps work to ensure their offers were seen as our best option."

"Correct," said Jiraiya. "Add to that the unknown power granted to you by the Raiju inside of you, and you'd both make a tempting package for any clan head to try and secure, plus spies and people out to make a buck," he finished.

Nabiki shivered openly at that, remembering her own assault. No, if keeping the genetic markers secret would keep such an event from happening—hopefully to a point well beyond when she grew strong enough to protect herself—then so be it. Though it was definitely going to make the prospect of dating interesting.

"**Perhaps this is also what they mean by the phrase 'wanting you just for your body'."**

_Be quiet you._

* * *

Ranma sighed as he looked down at his scrolls, the initial teaching tomes of the Ninja Academy of Konoha, detailing chakra, molding, and hand seals. He wasn't quite ready to try any techniques at the moment, still trying to figure out how his own energies related to it.

His mind was only half on the assignment. There was no worry about Nabiki's safety at the moment, as she had left with the former Hokage, Sarutobi, after the meeting. She was meeting with her new assigned Sensei to get her up to speed on what she needed to do. He at least hoped that her training would help her deal with what had occurred a few days ago, when she had been abducted.

It was the only thing he could think of that would send the former mercenary Tendo into a desire for training in any fighting arts.

No, his mind was on what had been discussed. Sure, he could heal quickly, but he always figured it was a healing factor boosted by his training, by his internal ki. The fact it might have been biological had never occurred to him. Then again, it probably explained how he had survived his father's ludicrous ideas of training without ending maimed or worse.

And then some emerging eye-ability. Sure, it wasn't like someone could claim all of his skills were because of it. Ranma was pretty damned proud of the fact he had gotten as far as he did by his own talents. He figured out Amazon techniques, ki techniques, and such without some magic red eyes to help him. Oh sure, if anyone in Nerima ever learned of that fact, they'd try and say he used those magic eyes he didn't have to cheat.

_Feh, like they're any better,_ he groused.

But it made him valuable here, especially when combined with his healing abilities. Here he didn't need his father to ruin his life with half-truth promises, illegal engagements, or any of that other nonsense that Genma Saotome was infamous for. Just being what he was, was more than enough to entice suitors here.

That was especially true if any Uchiha or their friends learned what secrets apparently lay hidden in the cells of Ranma and Nabiki, and not just those of the Raiju kind.

This brought up another worry; that the … Raiju inside of him hadn't even tried to chat with him during his nap. Had the Nekoken incident caused it to sleep to recharge? Sure, Ranma hated any and all things feline, but he didn't want the creature that saved his and Nabiki's lives to come to any harm. Perhaps he'd hear from the beast sometime that night, after he went to bed.

"Hopefully the damned thing will help me over the flaw," he grumbled, looking back at the scrolls.

"You know," said a very familiar voice, "talking to yourself is never a good sign, even in our world."

Ranma snorted as he turned to spot a familiar face sitting across from him. "Whatever, it ain't like I'm answering myself back. Sides, I got a voice in my head too, he just don't talk much."

"Right," said Jiraiya with a smile. "That's much better.

"Anyway, like Minato told you, I'm here to train you personally to be a ninja of the highest caliber," he said with a flashing smile.

"And how do you plan that?" asked Ranma.

Jiraiya just snorted. "I'll have you know, brat, that my teaching is what made Minato the man he is today. He was part of a Genin Team I had a while back."

"Team?"

The elder ninja nodded. "That's right. You see, normally you would be trained in the Academy, and after passing some tests, you would be made a Genin and assigned to a three-person team with a Jounin as your teacher/Commander/role model," he said with a smile.

"Right," Ranma said, remembering the scrolls talking about the generals of ninja society. "Genin, Chuunin, Jounin," he said.

"Then there are rankings for techniques, from E-class to S-class," Ranma finished.

"Right," said Jiraiya.

"So what am I now?" asked Ranma with a smile.

"Annoying," growled out Jiraiya. "I'll admit you have some pretty damned decent taijutsu under your belt, especially considering the fact I can't be certain the state of your chakra circulatory system, something we'd probably need a Hyuuga for."

"Hyuuga?"

"A clan that possesses a dojutsu similar to the Sharingan called the Byakugan, but it allows for nearly three hundred and sixty degrees of view around your person. You can literally see the chakra flows in the body, through walls, and miles away. They built an entire fighting style around it called the Gentle Fist."

"And that is?"

"The Gentle Fist style of combat aims to damage the opponent's chakra circulatory system, thus inhibiting their use of chakra. It can alternatively be used to damage the opponent's internal organs, to which the chakra circulatory system is closely tied. This is accomplished by the user injecting some of their own chakra into the opponent upon even the slightest amount of physical contact. And since there is no way to train the internal organs to become stronger, this technique is capable of causing damage no matter how physically powerful the opponent is. Because the chakra circulatory system is invisible, the Byakugan is required for this style to be used effectively and thus it is exclusive to the Hyuuga clan."

Ranma whistled at that. "Sounds like some pressure point attacks I know," Ranma said.

"Perhaps," said Jiraiya, "but pressure points generally work on the nervous system, not the chakra system."

Now that Ranma could believe, his mind flashing back to his time stuck under the Cat's Tongue Pressure Point. "So what can I do to counter it?"

Jiraiya just shrugged, glad Ranma seemed to have forgotten his earlier question about his ranking. "Couldn't say without scheduling a match-up between you and a Hyuuga. And you most definitely don't want to attract their attention at the moment. I'll fill you in on them after we get done training today."

Ranma perked up at that, training was always one of his three most favorite things in the world, aside from sleeping and eating. "What sort of training?" he asked with excitement.

Jiraiya visibly deflated as he remembered the talk Minato had given him before coming here. "For now just the basics, and work our way up."

Ranma just sneered. "We'll be through those by dinner."

"We'll see, brat," Jiraiya said, smiling at the excited teenager. "We'll see."

* * *

Nabiki sighed as she continued meditation. She knew the Old Man was sitting across from her on the rooftop, both under an awning that kept the sun from trying to burn them, and that he was smoking something that luckily the wind was keeping from her direction.

When he had led her here, he had sat her down, and began asking her questions about the scrolls she had studied in the hospital, about what she knew of chakra and if she could form the proper hand seals almost all ninja used to mold chakra.

And then he had asked her to meditate, to center herself, while discussing what they had talked about with her Raiju.

"**He seeks to learn whether I will strengthen your own … chakra coils … or if I will be the source of your power,"** stated Gobi.

Nabiki stayed silent. Sure, she liked having a secondary power source, but the last thing she wanted was to be stuck with one option.

"**Oh, I'm feeling the love."**

_Quiet you; I am just saying I'd rather have it both ways._

"**Smart move,"** commented the Raiju. **"I approve that you are improving yourself and not taking the easy path."**

Nabiki internally snorted at that. _Like I have any choice if I want to be strong enough to stand on my own._

"**You have a friend that will stand by you."**

_I still should be able to stand on my own at times._

"**Are you sure this isn't due to the incident that—"**

_I am fine!_

"**Just know that you are not alone, that I will always be here to be an ear to listen to you." **Gobi remained silent after that.

Nabiki sighed as she put those thoughts out of her mind, focusing on the meditations that beginning students used to begin to strengthen their chakra reserves.

The offer to have a confidant however … that made her burden feel just a bit lighter.

* * *

"Man, I'm beat," grumbled Ranma, as he and Nabiki walked through the town. After their training for the day, the two teachers had dismissed them to 'get some grub' before they returned to the hospital.

Not that they weren't being watched. Ranma had already informed her of four people following them—apparently Ranma's ki training as well as his battle against Ryu and the Senkens had given him a pretty good knack for spotting tails as long as they had high power levels.

Then again, it might have had to do with how he had to need that sense in Nerima.

So she just nodded. Who knew meditation could be so tiring? But that and Ranma helping her with some basic forms she could recall from … happier times in Nerima had pretty much taxed the Tendo girls' limited reserves.

"Wonder if they've got some ramen around here," murmured Ranma, his stomach growling to give its opinion on finding some non-hospital food.

Nabiki just shook her head. True, the vouchers they had been issued covered some meals and they didn't want to take a wrongful advantage of the village's generosity, but surely they could find something a little more … filling than ramen. "There's got to be something else we can eat."

Ranma shrugged. "Hey, you saw that line for that Korean Beef place—which is kind of odd since there ain't a Korea on this world—but they were packed. That waitress said it'd be an hour wait, and we ain't got that kind of time."

Nabiki nodded reluctantly. "Well, assuming we get this opportunity tomorrow, I made a reservation for us. If we got to have ramen tonight, I damned well better be having beef tomorrow."

Ranma nodded at that. He'd been half tempted to say 'screw the curfew' and wait the hour. But he didn't want to be a bad guest this early in this new world. "Fine, beef tomorrow. Besides, maybe they'll have some decent food in the hospital tomorrow for breakfast."

She could only snort at that. Hospital food as a rule couldn't be outstandingly good. No, it harbored between barely recognizable and Akane's Chicken Surprise in taste, at least in her humble opinion. But that was perhaps due to being spoiled by Kasumi's culinary skills.

"Damn," muttered Ranma, "you'd think a few of these places would have some signs. I can't tell which is a restaurant and which is a bar."

Nabiki was about to comment about how the bars were likely the ones with the smell of smoke and stale sake coming out of them, when her thoughts were interrupted by a scene a few meters in front of them.

"I told you to stay out!" growled the obese man, as he tossed a very familiar young girl out of his establishment. "We don't serve filth like you here!"

"Well fuck you!" yelled Anko as she stood back up. Oh how she wanted to teach the fat bastard a lesson of tossing her out like that. But the last thing she needed was Sarutobi coming down on her for attacking an untrained civilian. Well then, she'd just have to ensure that he received a slithering surprise in the morning when he opened up.

"You wanna make something of it, you snake bitch?" yelled the guy, brandishing a kitchen knife.

Anko's response was cut off as the knife was knocked from the guy's hand, before the large proprietor was lifted by his dirty shirt nearly a meter off the ground.

"You threatening kids, Old Man?" growled Ranma, staring at him.

"Don't you know who that bitch is?" the man growled, trying to get himself of the surprisingly strong teen.

"Yeah," said Ranma. "She's a girl with some dick for a former teacher. I hardly see how that's an issue."

"She's just like him!" proclaimed the man. "She was his student!"

Ranma just snorted. "And? You got proof or you just pissed her teacher ain't here to take a pounding?"

"Put me down, brat!" yelled the man. "You damned ninja ain't allowed to harm a civilian!"

Ranma just smirked at the guy. "You see some damned piece of metal with a ninja symbol on it anywhere on me?" he asked, a near feral smile appearing on his lips.

The man gulped, his eyes quickly traversing the teenager's form, trying to locate the familiar metal plate that denoted the fact that said individual was a ninja.

And to his increasing fear, he wasn't finding one.

"Now here's what's gonna happen," said Ranma. "You're gonna apologize to Inko."

"Anko!" growled out the Snake Mistress.

"Right, Anko," said Ranma. "You're going to apologize to **Anko** for being a dick and blaming her for something that jackass teacher of hers did."

"And if I don't?" asked the guy.

Ranma's smile grew, and unknown to him but known to the man he held, his pupils changed into slits. "Then I'm going to see how far you can fly."

Gulping, the man quickly turned his attention from the creepy teen to the kunoichi. "Please forgive me!"

Anko just snorted. "Ain't like he means it."

"Yeah, I didn't really feel it," said Ranma.

"Saotome, put him down," sighed Nabiki. "Jackasses like him don't change from being threatened to be tossed out of the village from the spot they're at now."

"He shouldn't be blaming a kid just because some punk that taught them was a pain," Ranma grumbled.

And then it hit Nabiki. In a way, Saotome saw himself in Anko. After all, how many times had he been blamed for his father's actions, for Grandfather Happosai's stupidity?

And here was a girl slightly younger than them, undergoing the same thing, made worse by the fact her Sensei was not a panty-thief or swindler, but because the man was a murderer.

Steeling herself, Nabiki turned to the man before her, smirking slightly as she noticed that his pants were now not just wet because of sweat. "I'd advise you to learn to blame the correct people instead of making up a scapegoat. After all, there are some people that won't tolerate such stupidity," she said, gesturing to Ranma. "Clear?"

"Yes," squeaked the man, before he ran quickly into his shop.

Shaking her head, she turned around, spotting the fact that the confrontation had gathered a small crowd. Narrowing her eyes, she slowly turned her head, trying to look as menacing as possible, much like she did in Furinkan when she wanted to appear dangerous. "Anyone else need help understanding the difference between a traitorous pale-faced dick and an innocent teen?"

The crowd mumbled before dispersing, not wanting to challenge the group before them. And while she doubted Ranma's act had changed all of their minds, it would have made a few people think. In the end, that was all you could ask for.

"I didn't need your help, you know," said Anko gratingly.

"You're welcome," snorted Ranma. "So they let you out too, huh?" he asked.

Anko winced slightly. Did they know she had escaped again?

"So," said Ranma, scratching his head, not allowing her to respond as his stomach made itself known once more, "you know any place around here to grab a meal that'll accept Hokage Bucks?" asked Ranma, flashing the vouchers Minato had given them before sending them out.

"They're not Hokage Bucks, Ranma," sighed Nabiki, as she rubbed her forehead.

"Hey, I'll call them Tomboy Tokens if they can get me some decent ramen," he said with a smile.

Shaking her head, Anko waved at them. "Follow me; I heard there's a pretty good place for ramen this way. And quit acting like you're my big brother or something! I can take care of myself, damn it!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Ranma. "Ramen first, bitch later."

"Smooth, Saotome," smirked Nabiki. "Way to make friends with your new sister."

"I AM NOT HIS SISTER!" yelled Anko.

Nabiki could only smile. Ah, it was almost like being back home. The only thing missing was…

"Damn it!" bellowed Ranma, rubbing his ears. "Did you have to yell so loud, you damn tomboy!"

"Tomboy!" yelled Anko, before she pulled out a kunai.

"Ah, feels like Nerima," Nabiki said with a smile as she spotted a ramen stand named 'Ichiraku's Ramen'. "Wonder if it'll taste close to the Nekohanten's," she murmured, as she passed the two fighters engaging in Nerima-style fighting—girl that was called tomboy trying to beat the snot out of insulting boy.

A new place is always better when you find something that makes it feel like home.

Sorry, couldn't find any translationPlease support us by using Babylon search engine


	6. Inner Self

**Shinobi One-Half**

**Chapter 6**

**Inner Self**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

* * *

The air was thick with smoke, the acrid winds of fire and death, filling his nose.

In the distance, a shadow seemed to loom, growing bigger, despite the fact the sun was not behind it.

"**Byel,"** Rokubi hissed, as he sensed the demon's casual approach.

Looking around, he spotted his brethren; Raiju and human warriors gathered for this assault, this one and only attempt to stop the constructed monstrosity before it could wreck the human world. If they failed, only the Gods themselves would have a chance to defeat the beast, and doing so would break treaties from before recorded history.

"Back to the village, wench!" yelled one man, waving a sword at a female.

"Leave her be!" shouted a samurai, hand on the hilt of his sword. "If she wishes to stand and face the demon, then let her!"

The man snorted. "A woman's place is not in the field of battle, but in the home watching the children."

"**Should we fail here today, fool,"** snarled Rokubi, **"there will be no home for her, and certainly no children for her to care for.**

"**We stand here against Byel with all we have, including her and her weapon of choice."**

"Mangy beast," snarled the man, as he sheathed his sword. "What gives you the right to dishonor our ways?"

"Our Lord Daimyo does," said the samurai, withdrawing his blade. "Do you wish to stand against my Lord now, fool?"

The man snarled once more before leaving.

"I apologize for him," the samurai said, returning his blade to its scabbard. But to whom the reply was meant for: the woman or the Raiju, he did not specify.

Perhaps it had been meant for both.

"**It is foolishness like his that led to our current fate," **sadly admitted Rokubi. **"No matter what, blood will be spilled here today, both human and Raiju. I have no doubt only a small amount of us all shall remain to see the next sunrise."**

"Forgive me, Holy Messenger, if I choose not to believe such a grim prediction," the samurai said with a smile. Turning slightly, he looked off to the distance. "Storm clouds, most ominous."

Rokubi nodded. **"It is an honor to fight beside you this day, samurai."**

"Likewise, my friend," said the samurai.

* * *

"Meow?"

Rokubi growled slightly as he tried to force open his eyes, trying to ignore the splitting migraine that seemed to indicate someone had cracked open his skull the previous night and shoved several hornet nests inside. Did he perhaps upset his mate last night?

"Meow?"

Succeeding finally in forcing his eyes open, he tried to focus on whatever was making that obscenely loud noise. But all he could see was…

"**Oh, it's you,"** he grumbled, spotting the familiar cheetah. **"What do you want?"**

"Meow?"

"**You don't know how to speak, do you?"**

The cheetah only tilted its head.

"**Of course," **sighed the Raiju.

Forcing itself to a standing position, it looked around, trying to figure out just where it was inside of Ranma. The last he recalled, his power was being sucked up by the Nekoken.

And then, he was here, in some empty room, the only exit seemed to be a small staircase to his left. **"And how did I end up passing through such a small portal?"** he pondered, looking at the staircase that was barely large enough for a human, no where close to the size needed for the Raiju.

Sniffing around the cavern, Rokubi noticed that he was still within the mental landscape, but once again, the doorway was the only way out of the room. **"Did I get sent here with my power drained?"** he wondered. Being a creature of energy, losing it could very well affect his size. But to be drained to the needed size to fit through that door would have taken him longer to recover than he had been out, that much was certain.

And being trapped in a void with his mate and his greatest foe made one very capable of telling how much time had passed. It had been a few days at best. To recover from the energy loss needed to fit through that door would have taken a century in a normal human host, years inside of someone such as Ranma.

"**Perhaps I am approaching this subject in the wrong fashion,"** he said, casting his glance towards the plain ceiling. **"I should not be asking how I got here; I should be asking … why I am here."**

"Meow?"

Sighing, he lowered his gaze to the small predator before him, still looking at him inquisitively. **"To be placed here with you … the Nekoken then,"** he murmured. It made a bit of sense, if he thought about it. Since he wasn't feeling a drain on his power, it meant Ranma was no longer in the need of it, no longer in the throws of the insanity. And as such, a conscious mind would do what any personality would: it would shunt the formerly in-control mindset to the subconscious.

That was the reason the corridor was the size of a man, because it was meant only for a specific man to travel through. The reason the room had no other exits, no seals, nothing to show the wall was anything but one solid piece was because the subconscious had built it around them.

But the cheetah was easily able to leave through the doorway, just as easily as a human could. The toughness of the walls probably reflected some unknown mental anguish to forever separate the Nekoken from Ranma.

A person can never separate the spirit of the soul from their self.

Taking in a deep breath, Rokubi concentrated, compacting his form as much as he could. If he was to walk out of here as easily as the cheetah could, he needed to be smaller than the man the hallways were meant for.

A cat spirit, even a Nekomata usually stayed around the size range of a normal human. Raiju themselves could either follow those limits or allow their energy state to remain relaxed, thus allowing them to be larger. It wasn't by choice, it was just usually less stressful for them to remain so large than try and assume such small sizes. The fact they could reside within the navels of humans was more a result of entering sleep, residing within the aura of their shelter. He wasn't too clear on that contradictory nature himself, but the Raiju who understood it had passed on long ago … before even Byel had come.

After all, one could hardly expect something the size of a house to fit into a navel, even if you removed all the lint. But being beings of energy, they could alter their state. And while maintaining such a small size was easy while sleeping, doing it while awake was something else entirely.

Add to the fact he was in a mental world never before touched upon by the Raiju, and he wasn't even certain how well he would do. But he only knew of what worked in the real world, everything else was simple theory until he was forced to try it.

Finally, he found his form refused to compact any further, and opened his eyes, hoping it had been enough.

His answer came as he was staring eye-to-eye with the cheetah, which licked his nose in greeting.

"**I'm really beginning to hate you,"** Rokubi growled out, as he made his way to the door.

"Meow."

Shaking his head, he paused at the archway, before looking back into the now larger room, seeing if the shadows from his own past, his own memory had surfaced once more.

But the room remained empty, save for the annoying cheetah.

Turning back to the hallway that would lead him hopefully to the Meadow, to where he could approach Saotome in his dreams and help him master the Nekoken, he strode forward.

The room was filled with bad memories; his own and those of Ranma. Staying there wasn't too appealing anymore.

* * *

Within the land under the Nakano Shrine, a meeting was taking place. This meeting was only for the upper echelon of the Uchiha Council, made of the Uchiha members considered both elders and those of respected mental capabilities. The room had only a small table for those few there, light from a circle of candles along the wall providing light for their meeting.

"Another meeting so soon," sighed Youta, a grizzly old man with long hair, his eyes black; the standard for all Uchiha. "And with so few of us… Did I miss something at the last meeting?"

"No," said Daiki, leaning back in his chair, only a few patches of grey forming in his hair. "Something came up recently, elevating its level to something we needed to discuss immediately.

"May we start the meeting and stop wasting such time then," said Itsuki, one of the oldest of the Uchiha, some said he had existed before Madara even took control of the clan all those years ago. But time had blinded the man; dark sunglasses covered his eyes from all.

Two more, a man and a woman, nodded their heads slowly, expressing their desire.

"Very well," said Kenji, an elderly Uchiha whose hair retained the same vibrant color it had always been. "We are here to discuss two newcomers to the village."

"That's it?" yawned Youta.

"These are newcomers the Senju are assisting," Kenji added, "as well as the Hokage. Minato has assigned them two tutors to train them as shinobi: Sarutobi and Jiraiya."

Youta's mood immediately cleared, his eyes focused. "I see, the Third and a Sannin; that is interesting. Do you know why?"

Kenji shook his head. "Information on them is extremely limited, both in scope and what is allowed for public knowledge. There is no listing of what if any country they come from, skills, or anything. Medical records are either destroyed or placed within the Records vault, showing how classified even a simple medical report is on them.

"There is even some suspicion they were in fact the two carried into the village with Minato's team from the War Prevention Mission."

"You now see why this meeting was enacted so quickly," said Daiki. "We know they have something the Senju covet, something they wish for no one else to know."

"Has any announcements been made about them?" asked Youta.

Kenji shook his head. "Nothing, we only know that they are being trained by the Third and Jiraiya because they were spotted doing such. Even that they are being trained is confidential." With that, he handed out several photos around the table, showing the people in question. "We have learned the male seems to have formed some sort of bond to Orochimaru's former apprentice, a big brother/little sister type," he continued. "He also seems to have some ability to change genders. Whether this is a kekkei genkai or not, we cannot be certain."

"I severely doubt the Senju would be interested in a gender-shifting ability," muttered Kohaku, a man nearly hidden in the shadows, despite the wide assortment of lit candles providing light in the room. "Though I could see how it would assist in infiltration missions…"

"There is also suspicion they harbor a great power," finished Kenji.

"The power I sensed a few days ago," muttered Itsuki.

"It is possible," said Kenji. "The area at the time was surrounded by ANBU, so we were not able to send anyone to investigate. But the likeliness does exist."

"So then what do we do?" asked Youta.

"Killing them is not an option," said Kohaku. "If the Senju and the current administration have taken this much of an interest in them, doing so would only serve to hurt our power."

"Accidents happen," offered Youta.

"No," said Itsuki. "We should make them allies."

"The Uchiha do not need allies," spat Kohaku. "We are Uchiha, we are a power beyond all others."

Itsuki shook his head. "It appears the foolishness of youth is not wasted merely on the young," he said sadly.

Kohaku delivered a glare towards the man, something that was lost considering the man was blind.

The eldest Uchiha sighed. "Madara's weakness, as well as the weakness of our clan before Konoha was those we conquered and absorbed. The Senju clan absorbed clans as well, but the philosophy differed.

"The elders at the time, they saw only the Sharingan as valuable. Any undesirable traits or bloodlines that would threaten that power were destroyed.

"The Senju clan did not act or think this way. What made them so powerful were the allies that would never abandon them, an assortment of bloodlines that till this day support the Senju desires, even with the clan's main heir away from the village."

"You mean Lady Tsunade, the Sannin," said Kenji.

Itsuki nodded. "They cultivated allies; the Uchiha had always cultivated 'additions', additions that were always subjugated to improving our standing, our power, and our eyes. Where they had friends, we had conquests. It is that ideal that Madara desired, why he could not stand to allow a Senju to have any power above an Uchiha, why no kekkei genkai but our own survived such joinings, and why even now, the Konoha Elders are wary of us."

Many of the others nodded in agreement. It was no secret to any of them Madara's actions had led to their current state within the village. The Senju's allies were allies that did not break away so easily, that supported them until this day.

"Then you suggest," said Kohaku, his tone almost unbelieving, "that we approach these outsiders as allies only."

Itsuki nodded somberly. "If they are the power we think they are, then acquiring them as allies would only benefit the Uchiha. The Senju and their allies expect us to try and absorb them into our clan in one fashion or another. By befriending them, we do what they do not expect; we show that we too can learn like they did, that we do not continue the path Madara sought."

"I agree," said Riku. The man had remained silent throughout most of the meeting, something that was usual for the elder Uchiha, his once dark hair already grey, only black tips remained to show how long such had occurred. "Let us build alliances as well, let us prove we are more than our past."

Daiki just snorted. "Let's do it because it'll send the Senju into a fit trying to figure out some secret plan we don't even have."

"That too," said a smiling Riku.

"We must be careful, however," advised Itsuki. "We must never plan to bring them into the clan, never approach them to even marry an Uchiha nor make plans to have their children marry Uchiha."

"You ask us to avoid them yet befriend them," said Tsubame, the lone female on the Uchiha Council.

"I ask simply that no plans be made," sighed the elderly man. "If love forms, we allow it. If not, we don't force the issue. If a hint of such is ever found, ever considered, then we lose the allies we seek."

"Then we only assist," said Riku. "There is a small plot of land on the southern edge of the village, near where the expansion project is planned to start," he murmured, remembering the discussion from a meeting last year about expanding the village for the growing population, a huge undertaking considering the need to first build a new wall before removing the old one. "We can offer it to them to live in, plenty of space for them without it appearing as if we are setting them up."

"It may seem too extravagant," murmured Tsubame. "The house is large, as well as the grounds the estate covers. It may seem too obvious, despite the disrepair of the place."

"All the better to entice them while annoying the Senju," smiled Riku. "Besides, the Hokage has already authorized a stipend payment to them while they are training to be Konoha ninjas. Let the Uchiha provide them a place to call home, instead of some dingy apartment the Council will offer."

"And if asked what we expect from such an offer?" questioned Tsubame.

"We expect the occasional invite to dinner, and the occasional acceptance of our own invites," said Itsuki. "Nothing more, nothing less, and we begin to form a bond from there."

"Then so be it," said Tsubame.

A slight breeze blew through the room, taking out the flames of the candles present; the Uchiha Council was then dismissed.

* * *

Nabiki sat on a bench, panting heavily from her recent reintroduction to Anything Goes, sweat soaking her outfit. It had been a few days, and having finished with her shinobi tutoring earlier, she once again went to Ranma for more training in Anything Goes.

He wasn't holding back as he did with her sister, which was something to be both grateful for and upset about. He hit back—lightly to let her know where a hole in her defenses were—which was something he could barely bring himself to do with Akane. But this world carried dangers one would never see in Nerima. Then again, her sister wasn't one who could take such criticisms well, let alone had yet to clear up her lacking defense and low speed. Perhaps she had too many holes for Ranma to point out, or he saw no need to do what her father refused. There could be any number of reasons he didn't do that or he was planning to do so if and when the two sparred again.

Sparring wasn't just to perfect the Art here though. It was preparation for when you might need to defend your life or those on your team. It was a defense for close combat, when your enemy came too close to use something else.

It was also something that would develop her stamina, which seemed somehow connected to the 'chakra' these shinobi used. Nabiki still wasn't certain how chakra compared to ki. She never got the concept of ki, having no need to study it in the first place, as well as the fact that what little she knew about it stated it could be called any number of things, not counting the varying names manga gave it.

But she did know about chakra, she had spent the last few weeks going over it, wanting to master it, control it, and use it to protect herself. Once she could understand it enough and get her 'chakra coils' developed, Gobi had stated she would begin to help 'augment' them, developing them as fast as possible without damaging them. It sounded dangerous, but it would certainly give her a leg up on any possible opponent.

At least that was the plan. She only had nine of the twelve hand seals memorized, and could form around half of those quickly. So for the moment, it was a long-term goal, hopefully less than a year.

"If I knew my life would have ended up like this, I would have practiced more," she grumbled out.

"Quit your bitching," snarled Anko, as she turned back to watch Ranma practice. "He's pretty good."

Nabiki nodded slightly. "He better be; he's been training since birth." She giggled slightly at the memory of what had occurred when Genma had first taken a baby on a training trip.

Anko said nothing, simply watching her self-declared big brother—something both insisted hadn't occurred but Nabiki insisted was true—as he went through kata after kata. "Oh yeah, I gotta get some lessons off him," she chuckled. Anything that could give her an advantage over her former Sensei was definitely something good. "Of course, I don't think my first attempt would end as poorly as yours."

Nabiki's eyes narrowed at the barb. "Must be a family thing," she snorted, smirking internally as she felt Anko direct a glare at her.

"We are not family," Anko growled.

"Whatever," Nabiki said, waving dismissively, glad that her breathing was back under control. She was only slightly tempted to go back out there, to resume her training. But it was not her usual laziness holding back, but the fact her short excursion with him had left her limbs wobbly and her chest aching. Sure, it was something that wouldn't stop Ranma: a man who routinely would exhaust himself trying to learn something.

She wasn't him and she wasn't quite ready to push those limits yet. Doing that might mean she was losing herself to her need for strength, for safety, and would be like admitting she needed to do this because of the dead bastard who assaulted her mind with that genjutsu.

"**While I commend you for determining the line between need and obsession,"** commented Gobi, **"do know that with just a little snap of power, I can make your body regenerate just about any and all damage, including the tears currently knitting in your muscles."**

Nabiki openly blinked at that. The Raiju could heal her injuries?

"**Well, except losing your head, most things, humans included, tend to die when you remove their head … unless they made some pact with a demon or whatnot.**

"**Granted, I might be surprised in this world. But a normal human—which is the group you still fit into at the moment without my help—usually die without a head. Anything else is something I can help you with all too easily, more so when we figure out these supposed 'chakra coils' these ninja talk about."**

Signing, Nabiki shook her head, trying to force herself back to a standing position. _Fine already, work your magic so I can get back to having my cute tight rear handed to me._

"**Fine, but if I may suggest,"** said the Raiju Tanuki, her voice sly, **"that you not only work on attacking him with physical force, but mental force as well."**

Nabiki smirked, finally standing back up, her earlier weakness gone as the energy of the Raiju within her healed the damage as rapidly as possible. Her eyes narrowed a bit, her mind recalling the discussion about Ranma's unique bloodline healing ability. _Using that often probably isn't a good idea._ As far as she knew, she didn't have some genetic ability to heal rapidly and safely.

"**While this is true, it is meant more for rapid and excessive healing. Minor injuries like minor tears along your muscle tissue will not result in your body rapidly breaking down."**

_Oh, thank you for staving off my fears,_ Nabiki grumbled internally.

"I'd hold off on trying to rejoin the fight," said Anko.

"Why?"

"Dainamikku-Entorī!"

"GAH!" cried Ranma, ducking to the side as a green-clad ninja passed by where his head had been, narrowly avoiding the flying kick.

"Ah, my new rival in the noble art of Taijutsu!" yelled Gai with a smile. "I have once again returned so that we might test ourselves against one another, striving to show the world our fires of youth!"

Ranma just blinked at the guy. "Oh great, it's you," he muttered, staring at the jounin Ranma was fast beginning to question if he was ever sane. "You mind explaining why you jumped me like that."

"Of course," said Gai, slipping into a ready stance. "Very few take the noble Art as seriously as you have, my fellow practitioner of such our Art. As such, I have spent my time since that encounter training, wishing to grow stronger, and hoping to overcome a great challenge.

"And now, that day to test myself once again against your Art has returned!"

Ranma could only stare. This … felt familiar. "So let me get this straight: I defeated you, you went and trained, and now you're back to see if it was enough?"

"Yes, for only by facing new challenges can one improve and forge new limits to their skills," Gai replied, his voice shifting from fanatic to one of wisdom.

Ranma just snorted. "This I like," he smirked. Yes, something like this made him feel right at home. Sure, the guy was a little … out there, but no more than Ryoga, just replaced depression with confidence. _Oh Kami!_

Needless to say, the images of Ryoga acting like Gai was not an image Ranma wanted to have floating about in his head.

"Saotome, you okay?" asked Nabiki, as she watched her companion become seriously pale.

"Um … yeah," he said, shaking his head. "Okay then," he finished, his usual smirk returning to his face. "Let's see what you got!"

"Yosh!" cried Gai, his stance shifting to a crouch, tears in his eyes. "At last, a worthy opponent with whom I can thrust myself with into the fires of youth!"

Ranma just twitched. That statement was wrong on so many levels. "Let's just go!" he said. The less chances Ranma gave Gai to spout something off more comments like that, the better for his psyche in the long term.

"Then here I come, make ready!" shouted Gai, as he raced towards the pigtailed boy.

Ranma smirked. He could use a good fight to calm down. The recent days had been sort of stressful, tests and training, trying to figure out the natural energy children around him could grasp easily here. Lost in a strange world, almost zero chance of returning home, it was all starting to pile up.

But a simple spar, a test of limits to see who had improved how much; that was something he could relax with. That was not just something that reminded him of home, but it gave him a way to unwind and vent some of the pressure that had been building up since that first exam.

Deciding that he was going to get the fullest enjoyment out of the spar—and hopefully awe those masked guys who liked to follow him around, as if he didn't know they were there—he forwent his usual 'wait and see' approach and charged into the fray, a smile on his face.

This is why he was surprised when his vision became blurry and began to fade.

"Ranma!" cried Nabiki, as the boy suddenly pitched forward, only saved from hitting the ground as Gai rushed forward, catching the collapsing male.

* * *

Ranma blinked as he looked around. Instead of the forested area he had been training in, he found himself surrounded by a sea of darkness, the only light seeming to shine down upon him. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" he cried out. "Couldn't you have waited till I was done sparring? I mean, that guy's only good in small doses, and now I'll have to hear his corny speech again! Damn it!"

"**I apologize for my method of requesting your presence,"** came a very familiar voice. **"But I was only now able to return to a portion of your mind to make contact."**

"Okay," grumbled Ranma. "Just what happened?"

"**It took me this long to remove myself from the prison your mind conceived for the Nekoken,"** Rokubi said, once again his voice coming from everywhere. **"Look at a small patch of ground in front of your feet."**

Blinking, Ranma did so, hoping that he wasn't about to be forced early into his Nekoken-anti-fear training.

"**Relax,"** said Rokubi. **"I am just presenting what happened."**

Ranma watched as a miniature version of him appeared, barely a centimeter tall. Behind that, a small cat-figure appeared, before running towards the Ranma-figure. As soon as they meet, the figures seemed to combine, with the cat-figure now easily four times the size as the Ranma figure had been. It seemed somewhat hollow, as he could still see his earlier representation, just much smaller, and somehow inside the cat-figure's head.

Then a new figure appeared behind them, a six-tailed cat figure easily the size of the enlarged cat-figurine. "You," hissed Ranma quietly.

The Raiju stayed silent, but the figures continued to move. Ranma watched as sand from the Rokubi-figure seemed to fly off and merge into the transparent cat-figure.

Then, the surrounding sand welled up, surrounding the three figures, before submerging them. When the sand finally settled back into the ground it had come from, only the Ranma-figure remained.

"**That is approximately what happened. When your mind rebooted, it worked to protect itself from the damage, thus it isolated the Nekoken and I, submerging us deep into your subconscious.**

"**But the mind will always leave a door, a path you can find and enter these memories, and as you witnessed, the Nekoken Spirit is easily your size, and thus easily able to leave the chamber."**

Ranma could only stare. He now got the gist of what had occurred, explaining not only what happened to the Nekoken when he snapped out of it, but why it never stayed buried, why it always came back. "Hey, if only something my size could get out, then how'd you get out?"

"**I compacted myself to a smaller size, a difficult task for any Raiju to accomplish unless we were preparing to sleep."**

"That whole navel thing?"

"**Yes,"** grumbled the Raiju. **"That whole navel thing,"** it said with distaste. Really, was that all the legends spoke of for his kind?

"Well, it ain't like they spoke of you having lots of tails or anything," muttered Ranma.

For some reason, he wondered why he felt the Raiju shaking its head at him.

"**I forgot the developing bond,"** it murmured.

"Bond?"

"**It started when we rescued you,"** Rokubi responded. **"Even without our current ability to converse in the waking world, we are still connected in some manner. In here, we can converse as my mate and your friend can in reality. But it is developing."**

"Oh," said Ranma. "Well … that's good, right?"

"**Yes,"** came the suffering response of the Neko Raiju.

"Cool!" chimed Ranma. "So … can we start on fixing my fear or what? I gotta get back to mastering this chakra stuff."

The Raiju sighed once more. **"Very well, but take these studies seriously, or I may tempted to let that furred menace that is your soul spirit sit in as well for … motivation.**

"**I did not enjoy being buried within your mind; let alone having my energy consumed by that mediocre animal. I want this gulf between us erased as quickly as possible.**

"**Now then, let us see how well you have come along on your own."**

* * *

"You can't be serious," grumbled Minato, as several council members stood before him within the Hokage Tower.

"Very," said Hiashi Hyuuga, the declared speaker for the group. Several of the various clan heads stood behind him, lending credence to exactly who the Hyuuga Head was also speaking for.

"I fail to see how our offer offends so many," said Itsuki Uchiha, the blind man sitting off to the side, an unnamed Uchiha attendant beside him.

"You seek to curry too much favor with the outsiders," said Hiashi.

"We seek to give them a home, a home nowhere near Uchiha grounds, a property we do not use or have used for almost a decade," said Itsuki. "Unless you would like to explain what dastardly plan a blind man is suspected of having?" he asked with a smirk.

"You have to admit, sir, that your offer is more generous than most would expect," said Minato, trying to maintain decorum.

Itsuki continued to smile. He expected as much, Senju associates and the clan in particular had learned from past experiences that the Uchiha always had a hidden agenda, a motive to any seemingly benevolent deed. The fact he was now using that against them was somewhat humorous to him. No doubt all of the clans supporting Hiashi as well as the Hokage's resources were soon about to be wasted, trying to uncover a conspiracy or some hidden plans that simply didn't exist. Oh, if only his eyes still worked, he could enjoy the looks of displeasure on their faces, as they trudged about trying to uncover something. _Ah, the simple joys of politics; days like this remind me why I stopped being a ninja._ "While you see it as generous, and while to some it may be, we of the Uchiha Council do not see it as such. The place will need severe repairs, time, and effort to bring it so a useable state."

"And I suppose you plan to have them pay for it?" asked Minato.

"You make it sound like we are doing this to avoid wasting resources to fix it up," sighed Itsuki. Yep, there was one avenue for them to grow paranoid on: what did the Uchiha see as a better use for those resources? "The point is many of the clans within the Council seem interested in helping the young foreigners starting a life here. But residences are usually within clan grounds or properties not maintained in decades, while what I am offering is neither. Sure, it requires work from what I've been told, but surely it is not something we as a society cannot do."

He successfully hid his smirk from them as they felt the impact of what he had insinuated. They were either planning something on their own, thus why they would be upset by the Uchiha offer, trying to pass off their own dilapidated properties as a suitable gift, or they were somehow insisting that fixing such a property was beyond their abilities. _Not like the fools themselves would ever do such work, they'd probably hire a contractor with some poor genin teams cleaning things up._ He could almost hear the anger percolating within the council.

"This is not about the Uchiha need to give such a lavish gift," said Hiashi, keeping his tone even if but barely. "It is about the appropriateness of such a gift."

"Oh?" asked Itsuki. "How is the Uchiha offer … inappropriate?" asked the blind man.

"The lavishness for one," said a head of a lesser clan, one Itsuki did not recognize.

He would have to have his retainer describe the man to him later. Obviously, that clan head wasn't well versed in such matters of protocol. "We're offering a house not used in years, in need of repair, in an area of the village we could care less about. Perhaps you could tell me what golden chandeliers or libraries full of techniques you find offensive about the gift?" he asked, making certain he faced the unknown head.

Minato sighed, rubbing his brow. Once again, with moments like this, he wondered if it was too late to simply hand the hat back to Sarutobi. "I understand there are certain objections to the Uchiha offer," he started, silencing the clan heads. "However, I have yet to see a reason to refuse such an offering. I know from personal chats that both the foreigners and the hospital staff would prefer the duo to find a place to live.

"Add to that the house offered is not within any clan territories or districts, as well as presents no clear security threat to either the Village or the others, I fail to see any … reasonable … issues with such."

"Then you have no ulterior motives to making this offer?" asked Hiashi quietly.

To some, it would have sounded as an insult. Itsuki just continued to smile, knowing that the Hyuuga Main Family Head was merely upset that such an idea had not come to him first. Say what you will about Uchiha in-fighting, but at least they didn't have an issue with Cursed Seals—something Madara probably would have wanted if such a thought had come to him. But like the Hyuuga, the man was consumed with what he felt was ultimate power, why would he wish 'weaker' methods to be at his disposal? "Well, I am curious what dishes they can make," said the calm Uchiha. "That's what I miss most about not being on missions anymore, the selection of foods. We have some bakers, but sadly with the wonder of our eyes, we do not have a grand Uchiha chef," he lamented sadly.

Even Minato had to fight hard not to chuckle at those lines. Many things could be said about Itsuki, but a lack of humor was not one of them. Only a blind Uchiha would suggest using the Sharingan to become a chef.

"And I would hope they'd invite an old man to dinner sometimes," sighed Itsuki wistfully. "Ah, to hear some dinner conversation that doesn't always begin with the phrase 'while on a mission', such a rarity for my life nowadays."

"I … see," said Minato, a small smile hidden by his hands. "Does this settle what issues the Council members had with the Uchiha offering?" he asked the glaring Hiashi.

"For now," said the Hyuuga Head, as he bowed, and exited the room, the other Council Members quickly following behind him.

"Well," said Itsuki, standing quickly and clapping his hands, "I too must leave, all that hot air has made me need to wash myself, so humid in here as well," he muttered. But to Minato's surprise, the man gave a courteous nod to him. "Whatever may come, Hokage-sama, I believe you will be the perfect man for the job."

"Sucking up already?" asked Minato. "And here I thought I had a few more weeks before the greater clans tried that." His face and voice conveyed his jovial expression.

Itsuki just snorted. "Please, between you and the Snake Sannin, it wasn't as if we had **that** much of a choice. But you being in that chair is certainly much more acceptable than any of the Sannin. Why, I shudder to think of what changes your Sensei would have made with such power … at least changes I could not appreciate given my current state," he said, as the duo parted.

Minato could only shake his head sadly, chuckling loudly after the door shut. Sometimes, this job was worth it.

Now, he just needed to figure out what gift to get Kushina to make up for their missed date. "I can't believe she's still so angry," he muttered.

* * *

"Shouldn't we get him some help?" asked Anko, looking at the sleeping form of her self-appointed big brother.

"He's fine," said Nabiki. "Right now, he's just in some trance, probably something he set up to work on his chakra and forgot," Nabiki replied, trying to keep what Gobi had told her from the kunoichi.

"**Perhaps we should worry less about her perception and worry more about the fact you have asked this Gai-person to assist you in some light taijutsu training."**

_It was your stupid idea!_ Nabiki ducked quickly to avoid a spin kick, her own legs shooting out to trip her adversary.

Apparently, Gai didn't hold back much either. Nabiki was seriously questioning her sanity at that point for even asking for the Jounin's help, as well as hoping that she really could heal as easily as the Gobi no Tanuki suggested.

She was going to need it. _Ranma so owes me for this!_

"**Oh sure, blame the guy passed out on the side of the field."**

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Some have raised a few questions I need to address.

The first was about Nabiki's current attitude. Some have suggested she should be still in her money-making ways. That was true at the beginning of the story, before she was abducted and subjected to the Hell's Viewing genjustu, overdone by the ninja to try and full break her. So yes, she's bound to change a bit mentally as a result of her assault. A part of her is raging against her weakness for getting into the situation. On the other hand, a lot of what Nabiki did in Nerima also dealt with what she knew she could get away with. She knows here that they can and will toss her out if she becomes too troublesome, and with everything she's seen and heard, that scenario isn't a good one for her.

The second is that they are not looking for a way home. Aside from no idea or even rumors of items that might allow them to transverse their way back to their own universe, there is the fact that even the Raiju had no idea transporting that close to the abyss would send them so far. So for the moment, until a new idea or lead appears, they are simply staying put and hoping that someone from Nerima finds a way to them, such as an old ghoul with three thousand years of Amazon history and assorted magical artifacts to assist her.

I hope this helps.


	7. Moving On Up … In Theory

**Shinobi One-Half**

**Chapter 7**

**Moving On Up … In Theory**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

* * *

Ranma twitched as he heard yet another angry hiss.

"**I have told you multiple times already,"** said the formless voice of Rokubi.** "You cannot meet or play with him until he has his fear under control, until he is one with his awakened spirit."**

"… Meow?"

"**Now I know you are doing this to simply torture me, you worthless ball of—oh no you don't! You stay away from him until he controls his fear!"**

It had been like this for hours. He would practice the meditation Rokubi taught him that in theory would help him over his Nekoken fear and allow him to access the technique. After that, he would have to work on accessing it at will, but the main part would be that he would be free of the fear.

"Hssssss!"

"**I am much larger than you, foul kitten!"**

"Can you guys cut that out?" yelled Ranma, glaring into the darkness before him. It didn't really matter, as none of his senses could pinpoint where the duo were. All he knew was that it was damned hard to concentrate with all they were doing. "At this rate, I'll have to spend all my time meditating in the real world!"

"**That will be required of you anyway, my partner,"** came the Raiju's reply. **"The meditation in this realm is to better allow yourself to open and connect with those parts of your mind that are the Nekoken. Granted, I—" **he cut off, allowing Ranma to hear him exert himself again and the cat-spirit to hiss at being denied once more.** "I did not expect such a level of difficulty with your Soul Spirit. In here as you are now, it seems to have no other motivation than to run to you, perhaps merge again into the Nekoken."**

"Oh," muttered Ranma, nervously scratching the back of his head. "That … might be bad."

He could hear the Raiju give a very familiar sigh. **"Yes, that would be very bad, especially since my presence would enhance the abilities of the mindset."**

"Right," mumbled Ranma. "Okay, I'll practice a little more outside," he said, standing up and stretching his muscles. "Cause he obviously ain't going to leave me alone at the moment."

"**Sadly, I must agree,"** replied Rokubi. **"I shall see if perhaps I might … distract him for tonight. The meditations should allow you to return here as you slumber."**

"That's good, I suppose," muttered Ranma. "Got to be better than say … getting knocked out cold in the beginning of a spar."

"**Hinting for further apologies will not produce the results you seek,"** said the Raiju. **"I have apologized once; I see no need to repeat myself.**

"**However, should you proceed to stay on that course; I may become distracted and release the accursed cheetah."**

"That's blackmail!" yelled Ranma.

"**I would rather think of it as proper motivation to ascend beyond your current attitude,"** came a reply Ranma was almost sure was followed by an evil smirk. Damn cats were all alike after all.

"Fine then," snarled Ranma. "Then tell me why I can't make any chakra. I know it's close to ki. But I ain't getting anywhere."

"**I have noticed. Like my mate, I have been studying this 'chakra' through your perceptions. I think I may understand the issue you are having. Let us start with the differences, shall we? Now—stop that, you infernal feline from the Pit!"**

Ranma's head sunk low. "It's never easy, is it?"

* * *

"He is going to wake up soon … right?" asked Anko, as she poked the unconscious form of the gender-changing male with a stick.

Nabiki tiredly shrugged. She would have come up with some excuse why Ranma was out cold—she'd have to since Anko wasn't cleared to know about the Raiju inside him and Nabiki wasn't about to start advertising that. Someone had already tried to kidnap her once just because she had some good genes, she didn't want to think of what nuts would crawl out of the woodwork if they found out she had a powerful force of nature sleeping inside her.

And the reason she was currently wiped was standing beside Ranma's prone form, looking on in concern after sparring with her. Even the Raiju's energy boost had worn off, and according to Gobi, another surge to her system would do more harm than good.

"Concerned for your big brother?" she said lightly, trying to force air into her lungs.

"Hardly," said Anko, poking him again. "But I'm pretty certain this isn't a good thing."

"His youthful sister is correct," said Gai, too focused on Ranma to notice Anko's glare now focused at him. "Such a situation does not behoove a healthy act. We should take him to the hospital for them to solve it."

"No hospital," mumbled Ranma, as he brought a hand to his forehead, sheltering his eyes from the sun. "… Who's been poking me with a stick?" he asked, recalling the all-too-familiar feelings his body was giving him. After all, if the kids in Nerima didn't doodle on you when you were out cold, they poked you with things.

If you were lucky, nothing vile was stuck on the end of those things. _Damn brats…_

"That would be me," said Anko cheerfully. "At least the stick wasn't pointy," she offered.

"Because we took the first few away from you," grumbled Nabiki, feeling her body calm down as a small trickle of energy from Gobi flowed into her tired muscles. It wouldn't give her any additional power, but at least she'd be able to move without wincing or collapsing.

"Are you okay, Saotome?" asked Gai.

"I'll let you know when the sun doesn't hurt as much," mumbled Ranma.

While minutes passed outside in the real world, more time had passed in the mental world as the two occupants struggled to make some headway. The good news was that Ranma had a way to enter the mental world and work on his Nekoken issues.

The bad news was that the Nekoken was apparently a soul spirit in the form of a cheetah and Rokubi spent most of the time trying to keep the playful entity from entering the area of light and setting Ranma off again. So now the lessons would take longer. _Nothing ever goes easy for me, does it?_

"Will you be fit to continue our spar, Saotome?" asked Gai, looking on with concern. True, he was one for always pushing one's limits, but he did not wish to see such a fine example of taijutsu mastery cut down by a sickness of some sorts.

"Yeah, just give me a moment," muttered Ranma, as he struggled to sit up. Said attempt ended quickly when his weakened arm collapsed underneath him, sending him back to the ground.

Gai acted quickly, securing an easy hold on his fellow nin, helping him stand up. "Come, we shall get you to the hospital so they can evaluate your condition."

Ranma groaned audibly. He certainly didn't want to go back to that building anymore than he had to. Hell, the duo were supposed to go looking for a place to live and get away from that damned hospital.

His luck held for a moment as several ANBU appeared.

"The Hokage has requested your presence," said the figure behind a hawk mask.

"Not my fault," Ranma muttered, as he attempted to stand under his own power. His limbs were finally starting to **not** feel like lead weights.

"Are you certain you will be fine?" asked Gai.

"Just a little winded from my … meditation," he said nervously. No way in hell did he pass out; real men don't pass out like that!

Sighing, Nabiki steadily made her way over to him, wrapping her right arm around his as if they were a couple. "Trust me, Gai; he'll be fine. He probably overdid a workout and needed the nap."

Anko started chuckling lightly. "Does the baby need a bottle too?" she cooed out.

Ranma's eyes narrowed as an aura of power began to gather around him.

**WHACK!**

"Owie," he muttered, barely able to stand up after the slap Nabiki had given him on the back of his head.

"Tease your little sister later, the Hokage wanted to see us," she added. Had not Gai been in the way, Nabiki was all but certain the kunoichi would have responded by tossing a kunai at her.

"Very well," said Gai. "Then I must be off to challenge my eternal rival! Saotome, I hope our paths will cross again soon, so that we may test how hot our fires of youth burn!" And with that, he took off down the closest path going full speed.

Ranma just blinked as he watched the fading dust cloud. "Seriously, everyone heard that, right? It wasn't just me?"

* * *

When some thought of properties owned by the more powerful clans, they thought said properties would be developed, lavish, and signs of the power and money wielded by those clans.

"This place isn't condemned … why?" asked Nabiki. Just looking at the tall grass made her imagine something from Jurassic Park stumbling out to try and eat them.

They would be wrong.

The clans might own the properties, but such upkeep required a reason for that investment. Were they to be rented? Were they to be gifts for newly wedded couples in the clan? Were they to be used by foreign dignitaries during their stay in Konoha?

If not, then you had better hope Mother Nature was kind.

For the home offered by the Uchihas, Mother Nature was not kind.

"And to think, the Council and the Hyuuga considered this 'too' extravagant," said Itsuki. True, the place had once been a clan compound, but that was long ago and the clan branch that had once lived there had died out over a decade ago with no heirs.

"I've seen worse," said Ranma, as he cautiously made his way down the path to the front of the building. During his training journey, Genma hadn't exactly been picky about which spots they would stay at … or if the current owners were even there. "There are utilities hooked up, right?" he asked quickly. He did not want to spend the day cracking whatever measures the local utilities used to keep their services from being stolen. In a ninja village, those precautions would probably be very painful.

Itsuki just shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not certain myself. They should be, but I don't know what condition they are in or if an ambitious Uchiha may have had them shut off to save funds."

Nabiki just nodded, being cautious and not venturing too close to the structure. "Saotome, let us know if it's safe."

"How exactly?" he asked.

"If you open the door, walk inside, and it **doesn't** collapse in on you, then we know it's safe," she offered.

"Gee thanks," Ranma muttered as he made his way towards the front door.

Minato just pinched the bridge of his nose. Right now, he didn't know whether to laugh at the situation or curse his job that he had to deal with people so prideful that they would fight over … well, such a place that was in front of him. "I think any genin teams we use for this better be armed," he muttered. "I think something is living in the weeds."

"Sir," interrupted Itsuki's retainer, "I have the information on the house you requested."

"The utilities still running?" Itsuki asked.

**SPLASH!**

"Water is," muttered Nabiki, as Ranma stepped on the porch, right under a weak spot in the porch's ceiling, which gave way and allowed a torrent of water to splash on him.

"Actually, they were turned back on yesterday," said the retainer, showing Nabiki the gathered files.

"And apparently the pipes need fixed," Nabiki replied. "And just why is there a pipe along the ceiling of the front porch?"

**BAM!**

"To feed the fountain in the yard," the retainer replied, after the group watched a geyser spring forth from deep in the overgrown lawn to their left.

"Right," muttered Nabiki, as she pulled out a notepad. "New … plumbing…" she muttered, writing it down. "Saotome, can you fix that?"

"Can't be any worse than repairing the Dojo," said Ranma, pulling off her shirt to ring out the excess water.

Nabiki could only shake her head at Ranma's antics, especially since—as in Nerima—several men turned their heads away from the soaked chest of the now topless redhead. Only two hadn't been quick enough, and were currently on the ground, blood leaking out from under their ANBU masks.

"Outer wall could use some paint," Minato said quickly, hoping to hell that word of this never reached Kushina. _Thank god Sensei isn't here._

* * *

Jiraiya looked up from his research, his eyes darting to Konoha. He had come out to these hot springs and away from his new student to … contemplate the best possible training strategy to assist the teen's development.

"Odd," he muttered. "My instincts are telling me … I just missed something very important…"

"EEEEEKKKK! PERVERT!"

Thinking back, he probably shouldn't have spoken out loud that close to the girl's bathing area.

* * *

"Why'd everyone turn?" asked Itsuki.

"Saotome-san removed her shirt to remove the excess moisture," offered his retainer.

"Ah," said Itsuki, nodding sagely. "Such a thing is lost to a blind man, however."

"Too bad," offered Nabiki. "Back home, I know a lot of people who'd pay for a picture of that." Actually, she'd sold a lot of people a picture of Ranma-chan topless … in forty-seven countries and a few scientists working in an Antarctic research commune.

"Well, perhaps we can have someone paint it for one of our main gathering hall," offered Itsuki with a teasing smile.

To be honest, Nabiki had no idea if the man was serious or not. But then, would it really be that easy to find someone to paint Ranma topless again?

Was it even illegal to have that image? _Better not; don't need to be looking into too many grey areas of the law at the moment._ The last thing she wanted was to risk being tossed out of the only safe haven she had at the moment, into a world that had already shown her that her value was just as much broken as whole.

"**That is a good position to take," **intruded Gobi.

_Great; I got a baby-sitter in my head,_ she grumbled internally. _I wasn't __**really**__ going to do it._

"**Uh-huh."**

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The group turned back, spotting a cloud of smoke around Anko. As it disappeared, it revealed several varieties of snakes, most the size of a large dog and the smallest the size of a housecat.

"Okay guys," said Anko, arms extended, "you're here to search the ground, eat anything not human, and report if you see something that doesn't belong."

"Ah, I love a dinner date," hissed one python, as they slithered off.

"I guess I better send off for some genin teams," chuckled Minato lightly. At least Anko's snake summons wouldn't try to eat them. Plus, Kushina had just gotten her first genin team, it would be nice to spend some time with her, even if he had to help watch some fresh ninjas go about doing a D-class mission—C-class if there actually was something living out there in the overgrown lawn.

"AAAAHHHH!" came a cry from the bushes. "IT'S GOT ME! IT'S GOT ME!" screamed one of the summons, before it dispersed in a thick plume of smoke.

"Okay, some chuunins as well," muttered Minato.

"… Perhaps we should all head inside now," offered Nabiki, as she strode quickly into the house. Whatever was in the decrepit old building had to be better than whatever had killed that snake.

"Ah, bright idea," said Itsuki. "It is a large estate after all. A tour would be best to show it off. Why, I remember being here back when I was younger."

With that, the group entered the house as a messenger left to return to the Hokage Tower to assign a mission to some very unlucky genin.

That was assuming of course he made it off the property alive.

* * *

Nabiki was certain that at one point, this place had been a symbol of wealth. She knew from the history texts she had read in the hospital that the Uchiha had been a wealthy clan before settling into what was now Konoha. When the village was founded, land was still cheap and accessible, allowing many of the Great Clans to easily carve out nice-sized estates for themselves.

At its peak, this estate hadn't been the largest. It was roughly a fifth of the size of the Hyuuga compound with a house that offered many rooms, a grand kitchen meant to feed an entire branch of the Uchiha, a moderately sized Dojo, pristine grounds, and all the other signs of a well-maintained domicile.

That was then.

This is now.

Now it looked like she would turn a corner any moment and see several teenagers with a talking dog searching for clues. Boards creaked as they stepped on them. While power was on, only one in eight lights actually worked. What furniture remained was falling apart, covered in mold or torn apart by whatever animals had snuck into the place, said animals also 'marking' their territory. There were some small amounts of graffiti on the walls, a few signs of open bottles, a stained copy of _Icha Icha Paradise_, and a smell that suggested 'something' hadn't left this house in both body and spirit.

"Might I suggest having some clan heads brought in for a mental evaluation," Nabiki spoke, trying not to gag as she got a strong whiff of a scent best left undetermined. "I think they must have been obviously insane when you said they found this place too extravagant."

"Actually, I doubt they even checked the place out themselves," said Itsuki. "Most of the heads probably looked up the address and the last available data they had on it."

"Unless the guys they did send didn't make it out of here alive," snorted Ranma.

Anko agreed, before tossing a kunai at the wall, spearing a spider that had to be at least ten kilograms in weight. "It's like a before picture for a shed in the Forest of Death," she muttered.

"Go play in the yard," snorted Ranma, putting a thermos away after reversing his curse. No way in hell did he want to have to fight something as female for the moment.

"Okay," she replied with a smile, pulling out a long knife from her pouch, before turning around. "I hope that whatever it is likes to play rough!"

"Should we be worried?" asked Nabiki, directing a questioning gaze towards Minato.

The Hokage shrugged. "Yeah, but not for her," he replied soberly.

Nabiki just let the matter drop. Perhaps it was best if she didn't learn how blood-thirsty Ranma's adopted sister was.

"This is gonna cost a bundle to fix," replied Ranma, flipping a light switch twice before moving onto the next room.

Nabiki was forced to agree. Even if they—and by they she meant Ranma—did all of the work themselves, the building supplies alone would cost a small fortune. That didn't even take into account the supplies to take care of the lawn or how much the utilities would run them. "No offense, Uchiha—"

"Please, call me Itsuki," said the man with a smile. "I'm much too old for that formal title stuff. Besides, do it in a Council meeting and what the glares I receive for bucking tradition," he finished with a smirk.

"Okay," said Nabiki. "No offense meant about your … um … gracious gift," she fought to say. "But I don't think we can afford to fix this place up, let alone maintain it. We were going to look for an apartment.

"To be honest, this place is a little … overwhelming."

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ranma cried from the other room, as the one working light in the room they were all in dimmed for a moment.

"It also appears to be trying to kill Ranma," she finished, as a smoking Saotome entered the room.

"Are you okay?" asked Minato, directing an ANBU to assist Ranma.

Coughing out a plume of smoke, Ranma steadied himself against the wall. "Figures, I go back to my birth form and I get electrocuted for it."

"Exposed wire?"

"Nah," Ranma waved off, as the ANBU's hand glowed green, medical chakra trying to see how badly the pigtailed boy might have been injured. "But don't go turning on the light in that room."

At this point, Nabiki was willing to settle for a one-bedroom apartment. "This place is a horror movie brought to life."

"Funds won't be an issue," said Minato. "The Council has a fund for clans starting out in Konoha to cover repairs and such, plus the fact you two are apprenticed to become Leaf Ninjas does add a bit more."

"The clan heads will also try to curry favor and try to … outdo the gift from the Uchiha," added Itsuki. "Of course, that alone wouldn't be hard to do.

"Anyway, I dare say though that the funds will not last forever. You will probably have to take on some C-Class or higher missions to continue to afford this within three months."

"What if we do the majority of the repairs?" asked Nabiki. True, the place was currently a death trap. But it **was** a big-ass house with a big-ass lawn. She knew of board members in corporations in Japan that couldn't even afford something like this.

"Oh, that'll buy a few more months," offered Itsuki. "That's assuming of course your work passes inspection. You'd be surprised at how some clans tried to save money doing it themselves and ended up burning down their house." _Not that it ended badly, I rather like Inoichi's flower shop at his new location._

"What's the catch?" asked Ranma. He knew enough from Nerima that most people didn't do something for you without expecting something.

"Well for me, I hope to hear some stories and taste some good meals. As I was telling the Hokage earlier, sadly the Uchiha have never produced a great chef.

"Quite a shame, as you would think the eyes of an Uchiha would be perfect for turning out world-class cuisine."

Minato chuckled lightly at that. But he was already playing a dangerous game. The fact such resources would be used would require the Council to see something of value within the two. He couldn't exactly release the fact the two had Raiju within them. Sure, it wouldn't carry the same stigma as being a Jinchuuriki.

But there never had been a case of Raijus being within humans before, not even in the old Senju records that the First and Second Hokages had left for future Hokages to research. Given that they were supposed to be holy creatures though, it was safe to say clans would be currying for their favor—or their children—if word got out.

The only thing he could release was that they had 'bloodline potential'. It would hint enough at their value without defining it, which would fall under security concerns. Usually there was a time limit for a bloodline to be revealed—ten years or when the subject achieved elite jounin status, whichever happened first.

He couldn't release the facts about the Raiju, even then, unless he wanted other villages trying to kidnap them away. Same with the Sharingan genetics. For some villages, close would be good enough.

That didn't even count how the Uchiha might feel that there might be another clan or two popping up with the same bloodline. Someone like Itsuki might not mind, but the guy was at times the exception, not the rule. _Better hope something comes from that immortal cell line aspect before the time is up._

_I better make sure Ero-Sennin is serious about Saotome's training as well. With the amount this place is going to cost the Council Bloodline Induction Budget, they may not wait the ten years._

"Assuming the stoves don't explode and we get clear water, I think that can be arranged," said Nabiki. "Saotome is quite the cook."

Ranma nodded happily. "National Champion of Martial Arts Cooking!" he said proudly.

"Martial Arts Cooking?" asked Itsuki.

"Create a meal masterpiece while sabotaging your competitors' meals and keeping them from destroying your own," Ranma explained.

"Trust us," said Nabiki, shaking her head, "we have a lot of weird styles back home, families that turned some of the most mundane things into actual fighting styles."

"Well then," said a now jovial Uchiha, "I do look forward to those evenings. They promise to be quite entertaining."

This discussion stopped however, as a blood-soaked Anko entered the room, training red footprints behind her, a smile on her face, and the head of something in her right hand.

"What is that?" asked Nabiki emotionlessly.

"No clue," snorted the chuunin. "But it gave me a fun fight!"

"… Yep, she's a Saotome all right," muttered Nabiki.

* * *

"Bloodline Induction Budget," muttered Sarutobi, smoking his pipe. "It usually isn't meant for projects this big, not unless we have a whole clan moving here. Even then, we still have to draft and send a message to the Fire Lord to explain it."

The Bloodline Induction Budget wasn't necessarily funded directly by the Fire Lord. True, each Lord of the Lands—at least the ones either with Villages or small clan alliances—would set aside some money in effort to entice powerful or potentially useful clans to migrate to their lands, settle in areas the Lords controlled or empowered.

It wasn't all perfect; some clans just didn't get along well with others, which sometimes led to the Lords pulling off what many politicians fell into doing: creating a second or satellite Ninja Village with which to place them in. The previous Fire Lord had done so himself, ending up with the Land of Fire housing Hidden Leaf as its main Village and Hidden Smoke as a smaller satellite.

And it wasn't free. The Hokage at least had to be aware of what the bloodline or its nature was. That done, they Hokage could petition for the funds with only the Fire Lord being able to deny the request—which didn't happen too often, not if he wanted to keep his main Village as one of the Big Five. But that could be gotten around by only spending the amounts the Village themselves set aside for it without touching the account filled by the Lord. Sure, if it was during a time of War for either the Village of the Land itself, there might be some questions on spending.

Did they need a place this big? Can't they use secondhand furniture and clothes? It was the usual squabbles you had from any government assistance program.

But this wasn't during a time of war. Thankfully, such a thing was still a ways off. And since it seemed likely to only affect the Villages, the Fire Lord would not push too hard on it.

But this wasn't establishing a small clan on an adequate plot of land. This was establishing two people in a moderately sized compound that had been abandoned for ten years. It wouldn't eviscerate the fund, but it was still going to take a good chunk out of it. That would be eased slightly by the assistance of the other clans, more about them not wanting to be seen doing less than the Uchiha rather than making connections.

"One thing's for certain," said Minato.

"Oh?" asked Sarutobi.

"This will either put them in more danger or have the foreign intelligence services believing there is a severe case of one-up-manship in the village," he finished with a smile.

Sarutobi nodded, glancing at the mounds or paperwork Minato would need to file to gain access to the cash. Teams had to be paid to clear out the brush, fix the lawn, and make small repairs. Supplies had to be bought for Saotome to begin the repairs on the inside of the house, paint needed to be bought for Tendo to make the place brighter.

Oh, and someone would have to repair the fountain that had blown up in the front, the rest destroyed as Anko fought … something the ANBU still had yet to identify. "All this for two people," he said with a smile.

"It may set a dangerous precedent," said Minato. "Other bloodline clans might hold out for more, especially since we cannot tell the specifics of the bloodlines the two possess."

"We haven't had any new clans tap into it lately," Sarutobi mused. "Our last big use of it was the refugees from Whirlpool."

Minato nodded sadly. The fate of that village still haunted Kushina at times. There were times at night he could hear her whimper as she relived it. When the survivors had immigrated to Leaf—one of the few villages they had been on good terms with—the fund was not only emptied, but they had been forced to make several requests for funds from the Fire Lord, not just to deal with the influx of refugees, but to develop the needed areas for habitation. "Let us hope we never have to deal with such a situation like that again."

Sarutobi nodded sadly. More than a few on the Council had tried to cut the numbers they had agreed to handle. Others like Danzo and Sarutobi's own advisors had wanted to keep them out anyway, no desire for 'untrustworthy foreign shinobi' in the village.

The Third had responded by saying that if he did that, then he would have to kick the three of them out or order their execution since they knew so much, told them he was going to do what he had promised, and then ignored them.

"I hope that the Fire Lord authorizes this," continued Minato, forcing himself back into dealing with the extra paperwork.

"He will," replied Sarutobi. "If need be, I can journey to the capital and make our case. It will allow him to learn what we know if it comes down to it."

"Are you certain?" asked Minato. "Trusting the few that know already is a touch option. But discussing it with the Fire Lord in the capital of all places…"

Sarutobi chuckled lightly. "I trust Asuma to provide a secure post away from those with open ears and eyes," he replied with a smile. "Besides, if he learns this, he will likely double the money we have available."

"Yes, but that would require leaving a secondary tutor for Nabiki," replied Minato. "May I remind you that I have a hard enough time getting Jiraiya to seriously train Ranma."

"How goes that by the way?"

"He's got the hand signs down completely," offered Minato. "The problem is he is still trying to figure out chakra."

Sarutobi blinked at that. "I figured he would have solved that first. Nabiki's own skills towards chakra development are already showing progress. Before the month is out I expect to be teaching her the basic jutsus."

"Ranma seems to be stuck from trying to understand the difference between his ki and chakra," replied Minato, pulling out a small scroll with notes from Jiraiya. "It's all right here … past the dirty poems and the occasional nude drawing of Ranma's female form."

"I … see," said Sarutobi, turning slightly to hide the small drop of blood coming from his nose. "This will require careful study. Excuse me for a moment."

Minato waited until he heard the Old Man's screams after the door shut. "Perhaps I should have told him I had a seal on that document to keep it from being removed from the office…

"Nah, I'm sure he'll figure it out eventually."

* * *

Ranma sat by the small fire, watching as it cooked some of the fish they had been brought from the local markets by Nabiki, enjoying the cool night air.

No way in hell was he going back to that hospital. He'd rather camp inside the completed living room than go back to that place. Turning slightly, he looked at the work done so far to what was to be the home of the Saotome and Tendo refugees. The grounds didn't look like a forest, instead they were done to somewhat respectable heights. There were some patches that the genin teams hadn't dealt with—including a patch one team member was going to have to replanted because he had thought the work would go faster if he used a fire technique. But overall it was almost done.

The former house now looked like a gutted carcass, a dumpster beside the place held most of what remained of the structure. Several support beams, columns, and pieces of the frame had to be redone thanks to cracks, breaks, termites, rot, and some acid substance released when something had died in the attic. The only room now that had any walls was the front room, and even that didn't have any windows or doors. Even the bathroom was only shielded from the outside by several black sheets tacked to the frame to keep from exposing someone using the facilities. They had water, electricity in two places, and that was about it.

"Still better than the hospital," he muttered, turning back to the fish.

"Is it done yet?"

Ah yes, how could he forget his eternal roommate. "Almost," he replied, as a female figure came and sat on the small log beside him, staring at the fire.

"It won't taste funky because you made the fire from the old pieces of wood from the house, will it?" Nabiki asked, staring at the fire with a raised eye.

Ranma just snorted. "Say what you will, but Pops made sure I knew how to make a good fire from what I had available."

Nabiki shook her head. "So he taught you how to strip abandoned houses for firewood and remove nails from the wood."

Ranma chuckled weakly. "Well, he taught me the first part. The second part he called training; figure out how to dodge the nails as they exploded from the fire."

"… Saotome, never let that man near any child you have."

"Hey, it wasn't all bad!" Ranma retorted. "I learned a lot."

Nabiki just shook her head. Nothing was going to break through **that** wall anytime soon.

Looking upwards, she caught site of the stars. Despite the size of Konoha, the lights they produced did little to pollute the night sky. The stars shown as brightly as she had ever seen.

"They're not coming for us, are they?"

Ranma blinked, pausing in his attempts to remove the fish from the fire and set them on some disposable plates. "Huh?"

"The people in Nerima," she continued. "If they had the means, they would have been here by now. I mean, even that Nan Ban Mirror should have been fixed by now; it was broken almost a year ago."

Ranma just shrugged. "I know it can go through time, not sure about different universes. Hell, I don't know if the Amazons have anything that could do that."

"And our friends?" she asked.

"We ain't exactly got an ever-sucking pit of nothingness to experiment with," Ranma shrugged.

"And no clues about anything on this world that can do something similar," Nabiki replied sadly, accepting a plate from Ranma.

"Ain't an easy book to open to find out," he finished, before digging into his fish. He didn't rush since no one was likely to steal his food. But he was famished from working all day just on the living room. "Stuff like that isn't exactly common knowledge.

"Besides, Minato said he'd help us and I believe him when he said he's gonna do it. And you'd know more about whatever plans our guests have than I do, about trying to get back home. I've just started speaking to my friend."

Nabiki nodded, picking slightly at her food. "She has as much idea as you do at this point."

"**I am sorry that I don't have better news, but nothing like this has happened to the Raiju before. Nor do we sense any Raiju on this world close enough that we could ask. If Lord Raijin has dominion over this world, he has yet to contact us. Sadly, I know of no way to contact our Lord to plead for his assistance."**

_Does that mean you sense some other Gods or Raiju?_

"**No, my ally. I sensed some dark, malevolent entities on our way towards the ground of this parallel world. In a way, they would almost be … I guess the imagery you would understand best would be anti-Raiju; spirits given form and power by dark forces. These creatures were not blessed by Lord Raijin like we were. No, those forces are as dark as Byel."**

"Local news isn't good, Saotome," she said, taking a sip of her water. At least the pipes worked, even if it was plain tap water. "None like our friends, but something like an evil version of them."

"Great," he muttered. He knew how that meeting would end. One time, his buddies in school had said Ryoga was almost an anti-Ranma: confidence and depression, speed and stamina, air and ground, opposite manners of life.

And if they would fight like he did with Ryoga… He shivered slightly, despite the fire. Battles between such entities did not sound like a fun fight to be in. Watching though was another option.

"Well, might as well make the best of it then," he said, digging back into his meal.

"… We're never going home, are we?"

"Where'd that come from?" Ranma asked, setting aside his empty plate, grabbing what remained of the prepared food to finish off. No way was he leaving anything for scavengers.

"Our options," Nabiki replied. "I've thought about this for a while, and I can only see that option, leaving us here on our own unless the Amazons need a year or more for whatever ritual to get you. I know that Cologne would never give up on you, not with the Amazon value they'd place on you. So with the choice of only pulling one of us home or no one, which do you think she'd pick: the thorn that bothers her and her great-granddaughter or a prized male specimen every Amazon in China wants?"

"And how would you know that?" asked Ranma carefully.

"Mousse tends to rant," she replied evasively. No need to tell him that as often as she ran around the Tendo Dojo nude, Shampoo should have expected some of her pictures to sell too. Mousse was almost as fanatic a customer for those pictures as Kuno was for pictures of Ranma-chan and Akane.

"**Gee, it almost sounds like you helped support the myopic fool's delusions to the point where he betrayed you…"**

_Oh, rehashing old news, are we?_ "You'd be surprised what he's dropped around me when he thinks I'm Shampoo too. So, want to know the orders from the Amazon Elders on you?" she asked with a hint of a smile.

"I ain't paying for that," he snorted.

"I wasn't asking for money," she said with a smile.

"And I ain't giving up the Master Suite either!"

"Hey, now why do you get the Master Suite?" demanded Nabiki. "Everyone knows a young vibrant girl like me needs a large-sized room, especially one with all that closet space." Who knew the Uchiha favored walk-in closets? She might not have much of a wardrobe at the moment, but that didn't mean her situation wouldn't change later.

"Let's see; this house has soaked me, electrocuted me, tried to crush me, the lawn spawned something from Hell that's kids tried to eat me, and oh yeah, I'm the one doing all the work redoing it!"

"Hey, I was the one who made the deal with the local contractors to work on this place too," Nabiki added. "Otherwise, it would be the end of the year before you finished roofing it, then we'd have to deal with mold and rot from where the elements got to it first."

"He who built it gets to decide!" Ranma said with a smirk. "Ain't no way, no how you're getting that room. I'll even have a nice furo all to myself; no damned tomboys who can't read a sign, barging in and calling me … pervert," he mumbled, his smile faltering as his mind recalled and took heed of her words. And the tub had its own separate water heater, not to mention how big the tub itself was. Why, he'd be able to just float in the soothing hot water…

But Nabiki's earlier conversation snuck back into his mind. It was very true that they might never return to Nerima, at least not in the lifetime those of Nerima might be alive. Who knew what having a Raiju inside you would do to the aging process, let alone his immortal cell line. Maybe he'd just reach an age and stop aging, like those crazy Senshi girls on television that Akane claimed one time would show up, all engaged to him. By the time they got to return to their own world, there might be no one left who knew them.

"Great, now you got me all depressed," he said snippily, tossing the empty food containers into the fire, making sure no trash remained to attract scavengers. They had already dealt with enough pests as it was, they didn't need more before the Outer Wall was fully patched.

"Had to be said," Nabiki responded, looking back at the stars. She had never really learned them before, never really paid that much attention to them either. _I wonder how different they are from our world…_

Gobi remained silent, but Nabiki could swear the female Raiju was considering much the same thing.

"Well, we adapt, do what we can to survive, and keep hope that someone will come for us," Ranma replied, poking some of the logs in the fire with a stick that had once cooked the fish. "We go by the style of Anything Goes."

"Steal panties, liquor, and let some sap take the fall?"

"Okay, we go by the legitimate purpose and style," Ranma replied evenly. Not his fault a good fighting style was founded by a small old letch.

Nodding, Nabiki turned back, looking at the partially repaired house. "I guess we could have lucked out worse," she said. Plenty of good land, roomy house, hardly any areas old enough to cause trouble, and any utility old enough that might have was already replaced.

Ranma snorted. "You mean like being stuck in the hospital for a few more weeks?"

"Oh, they would have sent us to some halfway house sooner or later," replied Nabiki, already trying to remember from the blueprints which room would be better for her. She definitely wanted to avoid a room near the kitchen or the Dojo, lest she have to deal with Ranma's morning routines. "Besides, I guess this won't be so bad … maybe expand the bathroom near the end of the second floor hall…"

"That was quick," grumbled Ranma. "You went from wanting to go home to already redecorating."

"I adapted," she said with a sneer. "Besides, **when** they do show up to pick us up, I'd rather be in a nice sturdy, fortified structure than a small apartment. You know they'll need some time to do something or whatnot. Ryoga will probably get lost, so we'll have to wait for him to get back before we can go home. And I'd much rather do it here where we can stick them all in the Dojo than at an apartment where your fangirls will tear it apart to try and curry favor with you."

Ranma nodded in defeat. He'd have to remember to reinforce some of the supports tomorrow morning. It would be just his luck: find a place with some cool techniques to learn, establish himself, get a grand home to live in, and have his fiancées and rivals show up and trash it. On second thought, he'd have to ask someone to make it legal enough where his Old Man couldn't sell it out from under him. "Nah, put them in the yard and lock the door, maybe get my new Pervert-Sensei to figure out some security systems."

"Kind of feels weird," said Nabiki, looking back at the fire. "I mean, we're making a home here."

"Had to happen sooner or later," replied Ranma, now facing the fire as well. "Spend enough time in any place, eventually you'll want to set down some roots. At least that was what Pops said when I asked why we had to move around so much."

"We've got some roots now," muttered Nabiki, not sure if it was a question or not. She might not have gotten a full look at how politics ran in the village—something she found very few books could give since the entire dynamic changed too much too rapidly—but she knew from some of the looks that some powerful clans were investing in the future of the duo, even without knowing of the spiritual creatures within them. "We also got some people waiting with baited breath to see how we flourish."

"Yep," said Ranma.

"… Is that all you have to say, Saotome?" she asked suspiciously.

"They can watch all they want, I ain't going to let them force me into something I'm not," he replied.

"So why are you studying then?" asked Nabiki. "If it is just for the techniques, you know they'll figure that out sooner or later."

"That ain't it," said Ranma.

"This the 'I got to be the best' mentality?"

"Nah," he continued, poking the fire a bit more.

"Okay then, Saotome; spill."

Sighing, he looked up a bit, as if looking for guidance in the stars. "I don't want to end up like some of the people I've seen, like all I got is one trick, and when that's gone, I'm some washed up has-been."

"This village is more about being a ninja, Saotome," she replied. "Okay, we might be expected to be a bit … single-minded in some tasks, but you have that with any job.

"Granted, the line between life and death is thin here. And I won't lie; there are a few people gone that I don't mind."

"Like that jackass who kidnapped you?"

Her face went slack at that, even paled slightly in the firelight. "Yeah," she nearly whispered. "Trust me, I'm glad that creep is buried and gone. I'm glad our friends helped send him to hell, and I'll be glad when those like him follow."

"Sounds dark," he replied evenly.

"Sounds realistic," she said. "This isn't civilization as we knew it; the value of life here isn't as high as back home. So is that what's bothering you: the cheapness?"

"A little," he said. "I don't want to end up like a few guys I saw in the hospital."

"Injured?"

"Empty," he replied. "I ain't too upset I killed that guy. I mean, he would have killed you in a second if he could, and we didn't have a lot of options. Wasn't any different than Saffron.

"But some of those guys, ain't anything left behind their eyes, like they got no soul left.

"One of the monks I trained under once said if you start taking lives, you start losing bits and pieces of yourself. I don't want to end up being like those guys, no pieces left to give."

Nabiki nodded. "You scared of being one of the unlucky ones?"

"Of course I am! I just said that, weren't you listening?"

She ignored the snapping comment, as she could understand where he was coming from. Plus he was opening up, not putting on some show of not being scared. It said a lot for how far they had come as … friends maybe … to open up to each other so much. "Trust me; I don't want to end up that empty either." She looked towards her companion. "I also don't want to end up known as someone with potential who had their chances tragically cut short. And you may be surprised, but I **have** thought about it."

"And?"

"And … my friend said it best: you lose bits of yourself when you always see death as the only option, not one of the options. Apparently she's seen some of it in her life; won't tell me a damned thing about it. Hell, I can't even get them to open up to about how they ended up where we found them."

Ranma paused in his dark thoughts to consider what she said. The first part made a bit of sense: there was certainly no emptiness in a lot of the ninjas he had met so far, just the unlucky few in the hospital when he went for walks under the Umisenken, wanting to see what they might try to hide from him. And the words had to be good. If you couldn't trust the advice of a Raiju, than who could you trust?

The second part… Come to think of it, he hadn't really caught that much about how they got sealed up with that demon, just that they were. _Knew I should have started reading when we entered that damned tunnel._

_Maybe I can get Rokubi to tell me tonight…_

Nabiki tossed what remained of her container into the fire, standing up and stretching slightly. "Well, I'm off to bed. That mat may not be the best, but it is still better than some cramped hospital bed."

Ranma was half tempted to remind her they were cramped because she kept ending up in his, but he held his tongue. He knew something bad had happened to her. Making a comment that would only remind her about what had happened was definitely not going to give him a night's sleep alone. _I just hope those teams in the morning don't barge in and start poking me awake._

Of course, since she was demanding the main bedroom—something he felt he deserved for all his hard work both her and in Nerima—he probably would wait to mention he planned on inviting Anko to live with them. Her neighborhood sucked, especially with all the looks they gave the chuunin as he walked her home one day.

Ranma did feel a kinship with Anko. And he certainly wasn't going to let her suffer just because her former teacher was an asshole. She even acted like he felt a little sister should: she fought him, insulted him, and kept demanding he teach her things.

Yep, as far as he was concerned, the little snake summoner was a true Saotome. _Now if only I could get her trained to eat like one…_

"You coming to bed soon, Ranma?" she asked, slipping to using his first name.

"In a bit," he said, poking the fire a little more. "Gotta prep a bit for my meditation sleep to figure some stuff out."

"Okay," she said quietly, slipping though a curtain to enter the living room.

Sighing, Ranma poked the fire a little more. It wasn't that he didn't want to go to sleep—he was exhausted—but he felt … unsure of himself. Going to sleep meant more training to resist his Nekoken fear, which was a good thing.

Well, it was supposed to be. Damned Nekoken spirit wouldn't leave him alone, always keeping Rokubi's attention split between teaching and keeping Ranma and the Nekoken from merging again. And as much as Ranma wanted to hurry the entire thing along, Rokubi's warning and the constant hissing of the Nekoken trying to reach him kept ringing in his ears. It was a constant reminder of how close he had come to being permanently insane, especially as the Raiju went into details about the other Nekoken victims he had met.

No, sleep was not something he looked forward to at the moment. It could only lead to learning more things he was certain he wasn't ready for.

But he had to. He wasn't going to make it in this world babying himself. No, if he wanted to progress in this world, progress in what the new pervert was teaching him. Ranma needed to find what was keeping him from changing ki into chakra.

He needed to be able to use the power and knowledge Rokubi offered him.

He needed … needed to be the best once again.

Sighing as he stood up, Ranma's tossed the stick towards the fire, his hands flashing through the dozen shinobi hand signs before the stick began to descend into the flames.

"Feh, knew I was damned good," he murmured with a smile, all twelve signs in under a second was a good accomplishment. Most genin and a few chuunin couldn't pull off more than four in a second. And here he was, already to rip off more in the same span, perhaps twenty four before the end of the week.

Not that it did him any good until he learned to harness chakra. "Maybe that damned furball will have some idea what I'm doing wrong," he growled. It just wasn't fair! Nabiki was using more chakra than him. Hell, she could almost pull off the first technique requiring chakra that the Ninja Academy first introduced people to. If he couldn't do that, what chance did he have with the three they were supposed to master to be basic ninja?

Cracking his back, he turned towards the house. He didn't have to worry about the fire, he knew it was contained.

And if someone or something burned down the house, what all did they lose exactly? It was a skeleton at the moment.

Making his way towards the living room, he pulled the curtain aside enough to pass, the moonlight and starlight illuminating enough of the barren room that he could make out Nabiki, asleep.

He could also make out that she had stacked the mats on top of each other, put both blankets on top, and was already snoozing away.

Seeing her occasionally shiver, Ranma tossed off his shoes, slipped into his night clothes, and crawled under the covers. It didn't even take a minute before the Tendo girl attached herself to him again.

_Ain't like she'll need her own room. She'll just sneak in my room like she did in the hospital._ For a moment, he wondered how long she'd need this of him. Not that he minded, but there couldn't be anything healthy about it, especially if anyone from Nerima arrived and found them like that.

_Bah, I'll think about it tomorrow. _Closing his eyes, Ranma concentrated on slowing his breathing, casting himself once more into his mind … to face his tenant and his fear.


	8. Making the Cut

**Shinobi One-Half**

**Chapter 8**

**Making the Cut**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

* * *

Nabiki hissed as she dodged a strike aimed at her kidneys, wishing she wasn't feeling so winded at the moment. She knew she had to get better, stronger, faster, and deadlier in the face of what threats this world would send her way.

Her mind wandered, commenting to itself that a few months ago, such a situation would never be able to be imagined for it. She had never considered getting lost across time and space with the pigtailed chaos magnet.

Oh sure, kidnapping was a possibility. Some kidnappers didn't wait for you to finish saying your last name before the duct tape was around your mouth—last name first being the tradition in Japan. So it was just as likely some thug would assume any female with the last name Tendo was someone Ranma would come rescue.

Oh, it hadn't happened, but there was a bet going on that either her or Kasumi would be kidnapped in Akane's place before the engaged duo were out of high school.

She never considered a simple moneymaking scheme blowing up so badly in her face. Detailed plans that didn't rely on corny disguises, fights, or magical talismans?

That simply wasn't the styles of the fiancées or rivals.

And yet one of them had somehow gotten access to a shrine with a buried secret chamber and set up explosives to bring it down around their heads. Part of her wondered if they knew about what had been sealed down there—knew and believed—or simply thought it was a convenient place to dispose of the bodies.

The normal answer to that would be no, they wouldn't have known or cared. But underestimating someone was why she was here now.

Not that it mattered now. For the moment, she needed to focus on surviving this world. And only then would she worry about what she'd do to the asshole who tried to kill them.

"Oomph!" she gasped as her opponent caught her in the stomach, forcing the painfully forcing the air out of her lungs.

"You were distracted again," said Sarutobi, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

She had been at Training Grounds Five since the early afternoon, her progress enough in the Art of Ninjutsu that the former Hokage was testing her with a Kage Bunshin of his own in a Taijutsu drill. The objective hadn't been to defeat the clone, only disperse it, which could be achieved with one good hit. It was a simple test to see how well she had progressed both in her studies of the general fighting style of Konoha—at least what was taught in the Academy—and what Ranma had been teaching her.

And despite what she had hoped, even with a Raiju inside her, she had her ass handed to her. "I know," she gasped, oxygen finally entering her lungs as she felt Gobi refill her with energy and healing chakra. The Raiju itself had withheld its power to force her to develop and win on her own.

The sound of footsteps approaching her told her that the elderly former Hokage was walking towards her.

"Distractions in battle are never a good thing," he said, making no move to help her up.

"I got to ask Ranma how he does it," she spat, glad to see that saliva was clear and without blood.

"Some ninja are able to slip into such a mindset," he mused. "In a battle, nothing will phase them.

"However, it more often than not carries the price that outside of the battle, they might react with excessive force to the slightest of provocations."

She nodded, remembering some televisions shows documenting such in soldiers and high-level police officers. Nabiki definitely didn't want to become like that.

"Not my plan," she wheezed. Her breath was slowly coming back to her, making her regret not continuing with some of her father's basic lessons. Sure, Akane couldn't hit the broad side of a ramen restaurant, but she still had some stamina.

Nabiki however, was discovering what her life as the so-called 'Ice Queen' of Furinkan had left her with. Even after working with Ranma and Sarutobi, she felt like she had the lung capacity of a first year brass student in a band.

Sarutobi nodded as he dispelled the Kage Bunshin. "I think that'll be enough for today. Continue with the exercise I gave you and we'll test you again tomorrow."

She weakly nodded, trying to suppress a pang of anger that was rising up in her. Nabiki knew she couldn't expect instant results. But she still felt as if she was no closer to being a force than when she had first arrived.

The former Hokage sighed, noticing what was she had not said. He had seen it too often for his liking, even among the newest of Genin to the newest entries into the Academy. She was upset that she wasn't advancing as much as she would have liked. "You did well today, Ms. Tendo. I may be old, but I'm still quite the fighter. To be honest, you should not sell yourself short because you failed to disperse my clone."

Her eyes slowly focused on his as she forced herself to stand. "I know that," she grumbled.

"Do you?" he asked.

"Knowing and accepting are two different things," she finished.

Sarutobi nodded. In his opinion, she was still scarred by the incident of her kidnapping, traumatized and attempting to move on. The girl was throwing herself into her training, attempting to become strong enough to never have to fear again.

But such paths never ended well. When was there enough strength? When do you apply it?

What do you do when it fails?

"You should talk to someone about this," he murmured, lighting his pipe with a small application of chakra. "It is eating you up from the inside."

"I am talking to someone," she growled out.

"Tell me, is this someone the best to handle human issues?" he asked, knowing that the likeliest entity Nabiki would confess to would be the one she could hide nothing from.

The Raiju inside of her.

Eyes narrowed, Nabiki fought hard to control her anger, fought to prevent herself from lashing out at the old man.

"**The human has made a point,"** Gobi replied in her thoughts. **"Though we have seen many humans in our lives, we are not the best in understanding humanity as a whole or even in part. **

"**It may be better to seek … alternative methods to combat this issue."**

_I don't like talking to shrinks,_ Nabiki mentally hissed.

"**You also do not wish to be seen as weak. But does your current mindset not suggest such? Do you wish to allow this … darkness to consume you?"**

Releasing an angry sigh, she let the tension flow from her body. "And just who would I have to speak to?" she asked calmly.

"Believe it or not, Ms. Tendo, we do have people that excel at this sort of thing."

She fought hard not to twitch, hoping this wasn't going to end up with some nut that would pass in Nerima as a student practitioner of Psychologist Martial Arts.

* * *

Ranma popped his back as he walked out to the back patio of his new home. After what seemed like hours, he was finally done painting the remaining rooms. All that was left was to let them dry before they started moving things into the rooms.

"Man, glad I never had to do this sort of stuff at the Tendo Dojo," he murmured, cracking several joints. "But at least I didn't get covered in that crap."

Releasing a deep sigh of relief, he continued forward, eventually stopping ten meters from the patio. "Okay, you can come out now. Ain't like I didn't know you were there. Really appreciate ya didn't come inside and wreck anything."

A figure stepped out from behind a nearby tree, eyes focused in rage towards Ranma, body slightly disfigured from a massive battle of some sorts, as it slowly raised its right hand towards the boy.

"It … was … **you…**," hissed Jiraiya, his breath coming in deep pants.

"Me?" asked Ranma in faux sincerity. "I didn't do anything."

Jiraiya continued to glare at the teen. "You expect me to believe all the hell I just went through had nothing to do with you."

Ranma just snorted, pointing behind him to several Genin who were exiting the house. They had been assigned to help him paint the place—their Jounin sensei was missing, having been one of the victims of … whatever it was that had been living around the property until Anko slaughtered them. "They've been here all day helping me."

"Tell me something, brat," said Jiraiya, standing as straight as his battered form would allow, "how many redheads do you think are in Konoha?"

Ranma just blinked. "I don't see what that has to do with anything," he said, pointing behind him. "Hell, one of the newbie-nin here has red hair."

"So does your girl form," Jiraiya added. "Guess how many redheaded women are in this village with the skills to find me, point me out to the other ladies, and delay any possible escape until I took a few good hits."

Ranma just shrugged.

"One more thing, brat," Jiraiya hissed. "A pair of glasses and tying your hair into a ponytail **does not** make for the perfect disguise."

Ranma's eyes just twitched. "And how exactly did I pull this off?" he asked, trying to show no signs of worry.

"I taught you Kage Bunshin yesterday."

"… Oh," Ranma murmured. "Well … if you didn't want me using it, ya shouldn't have taught it to me!"

"I didn't teach it to you to interrupt my research!" bellowed Jiraiya.

"You're just pissed I stopped you from getting away with peeping on those girls!" yelled Ranma.

"EEEEEEEH!" cried one of the Genin kunoichi behind Ranma. "He's … he's a PERVERT!"

"Ah, so what?" asked a slow male Genin beside her. "All he does is peep on girls. What's wrong with that?"

**WHAM!**

"Okay, **that** he deserved," said Ranma as the kunoichi removed her first from where she had slammed the slow Genin male into the ground.

"Who's the old pervert, anyway?" asked the lone standing Genin male.

Jiraiya blinked. "Who am I? Who am I?" he trailed off, screaming.

"Now you've done it," sighed Ranma.

"Thank you for asking!" yelled Jiraiya, whipping his hair around. "I am the Myouboku Mountain's Monk of the Toad Spirits, also known as the Toad Hermit! The legendary Toad Sage of the Sannin of the Hidden Leaf! The writer known around the world! I am … JIRAIYA!" he finished, posing.

The only sound that permeated the backyard was of a cricket chirping.

"… Never heard of you," said the boy.

"Now I know he's a pervert," grumbled the kunoichi.

"I am no mere pervert, little girl!"

"Yeah, yeah," waved off Ranma, "you're a super pervert. Can you try to not mentally scar people under the age of fifteen on my property?"

"Kids today," grumbled Jiraiya, "no respect to their elders."

"Well if all my elders weren't huge screaming perverts, I might show some respect," sneered Ranma, before he turned back to the Genin. "Well, that's it for today. Why don't you three head back to the Tower and either get another assignment or ask for a technique to help keep ya from ending up like your Sensei."

Both boys winced, crossing their legs.

"Why? What happened to him?" asked the kunoichi. "No one will tell me!"

The males all stayed silent, even as they dragged the kunoichi away.

Taking a deep breath, Ranma turned back to the Sannin. "Weren't you supposed to be here hours ago to train me?"

"I left you with a scroll," Jiraiya waved off.

"You left me with a blank scroll," growled Ranma.

"Well, you still got something done today."

"It was either paint with them or get a mission," glared Ranma. "And I can't get one of those until I pass some proficiency exam to ensure I'm at least at Genin-Level.

"And they said someone wasn't filing any reports about my progress," he finished.

"Ahhh," murmured Jiraiya, remembering what he had been supposed to do that, having been reminded by his own Sensei, his student, and his student's lover who wielded a mean frying pan. "Well then, I guess I better go do that now," he said, his earlier anger fading under Ranma's glare.

"I think you mean 'we'," stated Ranma. "Unless of course you want me to send out a few more Kage Bunshin to ensure you don't make any unscheduled detours."

The Sage winced at those words. "Fine, let's go get you certified. I assume of course you know the three basic jutsu."

Ranma snorted at that. "Ya saw me master them after I finally figured out that chakra/chi issue."

Jiraiya nodded as they moved towards the entrance of the compound, stepping aside of the few remaining Genin teams assigned to finish the landscaping chores. "One day, you'll have to explain that to me. This chi stuff seems like it might be pretty useful to know."

"Yeah, maybe," smirked Ranma. He was happy to have something to hold over the self-proclaimed super pervert's head to make him actually teach something useful. As it stood, he had no doubt that the elder ninja would take the first available opportunity to ditch his tutoring for 'research'. _Man, I hope I don't become that easily distracted when I get that old._

_Hell, I just hope growing old don't make you a pervert. All the really old guys I know are all perverts._

As the duo walked towards the Tower, they remained silent for a good bit of the trip.

"You shouldn't be rushing into this."

"Hmm?" asked Ranma, trying to ignore the occasional tail they picked up. _Looks like Minato and Itsuki were right. Man, it's like these guys aren't even trying._

"The life of a ninja," said Jiraiya, facing forward. "Kami knows I've seen brats younger than you rushing into this life, thinking it would be all action and glory."

Ranma just snorted. "Please; all glory ever got me was some other nut trying to take me down." Hell, he hardly got any fights after Saffron. But then, all of his rivals had been there, so maybe that had something to do with it.

_Ah, who cares. Ain't like anyone could ever make heads or tails out of those nuts, I'm just shocked I ain't had Kiima show up demanding something._

He shuddered at the possibility of the Phoenix tribe having similar laws like the Amazons. Ranma had barely slept a wink for a week after he defeated Herb, always scared he would turn a corner or wake up and end up coming face-to-face with a new Musk bride.

"It isn't an easy decision," the Sage continued, somewhat mollified by Saotome's shiver. "It will be rough, difficult, and in the end there will be no doubt that at some point, you **will** have to take someone's life."

Ranma nodded, though the Sannin noted how Ranma was nervously clenching his hands into fists as they walked. "Done it before."

"But can you do it again?" asked Jiraiya.

"… Won't know until I have ta," Ranma mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets, turning his head away from the Sannin.

"Dangerous path to take," commented Jiraiya.

"Ain't like I plan to go out there and slaughter everyone."

"Didn't say you'd have to."

"Good, cause if I gotta be a ninja, it ain't gonna be my way. My way is about me not killing unless I gotta."

Jiraiya nodded. "Just so you know, if it comes to it, hesitation can mean the difference between your team going home or the enemy."

"I know that."

"Just making sure," Jiraiya said. "So … is everything else fine?" he asked.

"If you're asking if I'm gonna freak out like on the field, not sure yet," Ranma said.

"Kid, we don't send people out who can't hack it," Jiraiya offered quietly. Well, that wasn't exactly true. They didn't send them out on anything higher than a D-rank or low C unless they felt they could handle it. Anything higher was just a recipe for disaster when the person would crack, getting themselves and usually a few others killed, assuming they didn't end up captured or running off to become Missing Nin.

But Saotome didn't need to hear that at the moment. As much as it would easy to blame the delay on Jiraiya's own research, it was more of a delay tactic, a way to give the boy time to work out a few things. Even if he was approved of for Genin-missions, the fact that his … Nekoken was still not under his own control. And added to that the power of a Raiju and you had an entity more dangerous and unpredictable than any Bijuu.

"I can hack it," glared Ranma.

"Really?" asked Jiraiya. "And if they use a particular genjutsu on you again, or even a Summons like what it showed you? Could you still be a use to the Village then?"

Ranma continued to glare, refusing to back down from this. Sure, Rokubi was helping him deal with the cat—as hard as it was since the thing always tried to rush towards Ranma in the mental landscape. But he still didn't feel too confident about facing one of the furballs of fury anytime soon, not until he could talk to Rokubi in his head at least. "I ain't a threat ta my friends."

"… We'll see, brat; we'll see," said Jiraiya, as the two carried on.

* * *

Anko strode into the Hokage Tower, ignoring the all-too-often glare being sent her way, ignoring the pseudo-whispered comment calling her derogatory names as she had made her way there.

Technically, she was still supposed to be on restricted leave pending a full inquiry into her involvement in Orochimaru's betrayal and her rescue from Sea Country.

She didn't buy that anymore than anyone else did. Anko knew she had been interrogated by ANBU—both in the village and when she was on her way to the village. Her former sensei was a traitorous bastard, but he made sure she learned her stuff. Standard ANBU rules and procedures would dictate such.

The fact she didn't remember it was inconsequential. In fact, given some of the extraction methods they used—at least the ones she was aware of—it was probably for the best that she didn't recall them.

_I have enough bad memories without adding to them._

Shaking her head, she continued on. The Fourth had called for her, which was good as it got her off the Restricted List without the need of approval by the advising council. Her former sensei's defection did more than just ruin many lives, it ruined hers as well. The stigma attached to his name would ensure no matter what, there would always be a weight on her actions. She could achieve the fame of the First, but it would never be enough. Hell, she'd be lucky to make it to Special Jounin, never mind beyond that. Forget about ever becoming a Jounin Sensei.

_It doesn't matter though. I'm not going to become strong for assholes like them._

_I'll become strong if for nothing else than to bring that traitor's head back to the village and put on a pike in front of their offices._

Steeling her resolve, she marched into the Tower, making her way to the Hokage's office. She had no doubt that several ANBU were already watching her, ready to slaughter her quickly if it looked like she was a threat to the village leader.

Coming to his door, she raised her hand, preparing to knock, when doubt crept back into her mind. Was he really going to bypass the Advisors and return her to duty somehow? Maybe it was something…

Growling slightly at feeling so weak, she knocked forcefully on the door. Second-guessing herself now was not going to do her any good.

"Come in, Anko!" she heard.

Nodding, she opened the door, stopping at the sight before her. Sure, she had expected to see the Fourth busy at work. All the times she had visited the Third, it seemed like there was always a pile of paperwork surrounding the desk.

Minato Namikaze was doing the paperwork, as expected.

He was doing it from three different seats as a fourth one stood by the door, smiling.

"W-what?" she asked.

"What?" he asked. "You think a Hokage could deal with all this and not have clones helping him?" Minato asked with a smile, sipping a steamy cup of tea.

"You … you can do that?"

"Well, the First preferred using Moku Bunshin no Jutsu." He motioned to the others working quickly with the paperwork. "I'm using Kage Bunshin."

"How come the Third never used them?"

"Maybe he did," shrugged Minato. "He wouldn't be much of a ninja if you saw all of his tricks."

She just nodded, filing the information away for later. _I wonder what clones you actually can use to get away with that…_

"Anyway," waved off Minato, sitting down his tea, "I need to discuss something with you?"

"What things?" she asked, forcing any nervousness down.

"Well, I'm presented with an interesting set of problems," he said, motioning to a pair of empty chairs. After she took a seat, he continued. "As you are no doubt aware, there are those on the Council and in my own Advisors who think you are too dangerous to be allowed to run unchecked."

She snorted at that.

"Yeah, they didn't exactly hide their feelings," he snorted in reply. "And there is the group that feels that while you may not be desiring the path of your former Sensei, you may still be unknowingly under his sway."

She looked off to the side at that. "Did they find anything?"

"Aside from that Cursed Mark on your back shoulder, no," he said. "Then again, with him, could we ever be sure we got it all?"

She slowly shook her head.

"I've given what we've found out about it so far to Ero-Sennin. With any luck, he can do something about it, in case his former teammate left something behind."

"… Thank you," she said.

Nodding, he continued. "And like Sarutobi, there are some who feel you should be allowed to return to our ranks without any stigma. After all, you left here believing you were a Konoha Chuunin, why should you return any differently?"

She shook her head at that. "Like you said, we don't know what he might have left in me." Her right hand trembled a bit, her body wanting to send it clutching her heart. She didn't know for sure what had happened on that island. All she knew was that she had been abandoned by Orochimaru.

And he didn't leave anything without leaving a few surprises behind for those that found it.

Minato paused a bit, before slowly nodding. "I agree with you there. And even if the old man had wanted you back immediately, I hope he would have assigned someone to watch you.

"The fact you have the awareness of mind to suggest such yourself tells me I made the right decision." Nodding, he grabbed a file one of the Kage Bunshin handed him, before opening it. "So that leaves me in a bit of a dilemma.

"A majority is requesting that even if I allow you for active duty, I commit you to the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force under Ibiki," he said. "It would allow a redundancy they are requesting, to watch you."

Anko slowly nodded. In fact, that option hadn't sounded half bad. She could learn a lot and apply what 'acceptable' techniques her old Sensei had taught her. With any luck, she could still assist in bringing that bastard to justice.

"But I have something else in mind for another way to assist you."

"Oh?" she asked, confusion evident.

"Oh, you'll still be apprenticed to Ibiki," he waved off. "I would be a fool not to utilize your talents in that area. But I wish to add something else."

"Oh?" she asked, her danger senses her warning of something.

"How would you feel about … Team Anko?"

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me?" complained Nabiki.

Minato shook his head, his smile never diminishing.

"Can't I request imprisonment?" whined Anko.

Minato shook his head.

"…" Ranma just snorted. "She's in charge, ain't she?" he said, motioning with his head towards Anko.

Minato nodded.

"… You do realize I'm going to kill the Old Letch now," said Ranma grimly.

"If you can."

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Anko.

Ranma just arched his eyebrow at her. "And why is she in charge?" he asked.

"Simple," replied Minato. "She's a Chuunin, you two are now Genin. As such, she'll be your team leader until such time you either surpass her in rank, skills, and knowledge of this world or the team breaks up."

Ranma just growled lightly. He had to admit, it made a lot of sense. Hell, he didn't even study any of the maps yet.

Didn't mean he had to like following someone else's orders.

"Every team is a three-person team," Minato continued. "In the Academy, no team is sent out in teams alone or in teams of two as they start out, even when assigned D-rank missions. This is to ensure that those starting out can get a solid handle on what is required of them: teamwork, how their teammates work, and so on, while providing a safe learning environment.

"The truth is that even though those missions may seem like a waste, they are somewhat of a starter to prepare you."

Anko sank to her knees. "You mean … because I'm stuck with them … I have to do D-Rank!" cried Anko.

"Wait, I remember reading about those," murmured Nabiki. "The reward for a D-rank mission is between five thousand and fifty thousand Ryō."

"How much is that?" asked Ranma.

Nabiki shrugged. Best I can figure, one Ryō equals about ten Yen."

Ranma nodded. "Not bad money," he mused.

"And how did you figure that out?" asked Sarutobi.

Nabiki let off her usual smirk. "The same way the governments do it: how much bread, milk, and so forth can I buy with so much money."

"Anyway," said Minato, "the main benefit for the moment is that it'll allow you to continue training under your teachers with Anko's assistance."

"What training?" snorted Ranma, causing the two Hokages to focus a glare on Jiraiya.

"Fine," glared Minato. "Anko will report back to me on any training sessions you two have. I expect to see marked improvement."

Jiraiya gulped, before nodding. While he could probably slide a few things by Ranma about his training, Anko would be experienced enough to catch it.

Sighing, Minato returned to his papers before him. "Anko, meet up with them tomorrow at eight and bring them here. We'll assign them a single D-rank for the day. After lunch, you guys can return to your training. With any luck, we can move you up to C-rank missions before the end of the month."

Anko wanted to cry. The current month was barely three days old. She'd have to go without harming enemies for almost a whole month unless someone attacked them on a D-rank mission. And how often would a person be attacked babysitting? Pulling weeds? Walking dogs?

They wouldn't—unless they were very stupid and misread their orders.

It was apparent enough to Ranma, as he patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Ya wanna hurt the super pervert if he ain't teaching me right?"

"What?" yelled Jiraiya.

"Well, that might give you some more motivation to take his training seriously," offered Sarutobi.

"Sarutobi-Sensei, how could you betray me like that?"

The former Hokage just shrugged. "Consider it an assist to your normally tireless work ethic."

Anko paused, looking at the letch. It … would be good training to prepare her to hunt another Sannin.

"Well, we are all in agreement," said Minato. "But I will review when Anko decides to … assist Jiraiya to ensure it was well deserved."

"I swear, no respect," grumbled Jiraiya.

"Until then, you guys have the rest of the day off to do whatever you want or need. Just be here tomorrow at eight for a mission assignment.

"But before you go," he ended, motioning to the other two adults in the room.

Looking put upon, Jiraiya reached into his coat.

"I swear, if that is anything related to porn, I'm gonna have to hurt you," said Ranma, delivering a glare.

"Fine then," Smirked Jiraiya, as Sarutobi pulled out an object from his robes.

"Ero-Sennin," growled out Minato.

"Fine," sighed Jiraiya, pulling out something similar.

"These are your hitai-ate," stated Minato. "Congratulations; you both are now officially Genin of the Hidden Leaf Village."

The duo stared down into their hands, the headbands being tossed into them, with wonder.

Ranma looked upon it with pride. Sure, Anything Goes didn't believe in colored belts to mark your progress, but what he held was of a similar meaning. It meant his skills had grown enough to be a defender of this world. It meant he had cleared the first hurdle to learning more techniques, to growing stronger, to protecting those he cherished.

Nabiki's realizations were a little colder. She viewed the symbol as proof she was on her way to protecting herself in this harsh world that held no fear of the Ice Queen of Furinkan High. It was proof she was on her way to never having to worry about punks like that Missing Nin. For her, it meant that for once, she might feel safe enough not to climb into Ranma's bed.

_I can hope._

"We would have given you those up front, but we wanted to see how well you took things," said Minato.

"Took things?" asked Ranma

"Were you mentally able to handle the initial riggers of becoming fresh Genin," replied Minato. "Now then, you guys can head out now. Dismissed."

As the prepared to leave, Ranma turned to his tutor. "Next time you lie to me and hand me a scroll that ain't a technique to learn, I'll do more than sic angry women on ya," he finished with a dark glare that sent a shiver down Jiraiya's spine.

"He can do it, too," offered Nabiki. "He's dealt with a pervert way worse than you for almost a year."

"Can I help?" asked Anko as they exited the room to Minato and Sarutobi's growing laughter.

* * *

"These things are weird," muttered Ranma, fingering the hitai-ate Jiraiya had handed him and Nabiki as they left the Hokage Tower.

"How so?" asked Nabiki, hers inside her pocket.

"Well, I ain't ever seen anything like this," he said. "I mean, could you imagine Konatsu wearing something like this around Nerima?

Nabiki snorted. "Saotome, I've seen him purchasing some of the outfits he wears to work at Ucchan's."

"Yeah, but that's his cover," replied Ranma. "He ain't ever been announcing he was a kunoichi."

"He? Kunoichi?" asked Anko from beside them.

Ranma nodded. "Guy was born to a ninja clan, a once-a-century kunoichi genius, even though he's a guy. Step family did a number on him, making him believe totally he was a girl."

"Eww," muttered Anko.

"He's also one of the few people to give Ranma a run for his money in a fight," Nabiki added with a smirk.

"Was not," argued Ranma. "I was holding back when he ate that Toushintan!"

"Sure you were," waved off Nabiki.

"I was too!" yelled Ranma. "Sure he was trying to kill me with everything he had, but I wasn't going to fight him like that!"

Nabiki just giggled lightly.

Sighing at another fight lost, Ranma turned to Anko. "So, what are these D-rank missions?" he asked.

Anko just shrugged. "Low-level missions with almost zero chance of being hurt. Mostly the missions are just chores for people who can't do them themselves; babysitting, lawn care, farming, trash collecting, that sort of stuff."

"Odd amount to pay for all that," stated Ranma.

"Well, the village pays some of it if they believe it will help entice a client to use us for more services. But usually the clients foot the whole bill, especially for anything C-rank and above, and the village still takes a cut of some of that payment."

"How much of a cut?" asked Nabiki.

"Depends," shrugged Anko. "For the bare minimum cost of a D-rank, which costs five thousand Ryō, you might get a thousand after everything is said and done."

"So split five ways," murmured Nabiki. "It is divided evenly between the village, Jounin Sensei, and the three team members."

Anko nodded. "Unless the Jounin finds that some team members did less, did poor work, or no work at all. However, if everyone does their share? Yeah, even split."

"A bit more since we don't have a Jounin Sensei," Nabiki reasoned.

"Not unless you think you're tutors will demand some payment."

Ranma snorted at that, knowing exactly what sort of payment his tutor would demand. He had no intention of modeling for the letch.

"So, what now?" asked Nabiki. The free time was nice, but part of her was worried about what to do with it.

"Well, that paint should be dry by now," Ranma offered. "We can head back, move the furniture around, and try to get settled tonight."

"Joy," muttered Nabiki. Unlike Ranma, her chakra coils hadn't developed enough for her to use anything but the basics taught in the Academy. Even with Gobi working her magic, the coils could only develop so quickly without fear of causing damage to them.

Ranma on the other hand had high levels to begin with, thanks to his massive training in chi manipulation. Sure, he could throw it around in Nerima, but there he had limited focus, thus had to make them more powerful to compensate. Converting that energy to chakra was easy enough, his coils growing to match what his chi needed, even if they didn't mix the energy properly to form chakra.

Whatever his level was, it was enough that he now did a lot of his housework via Kage Bunshin. For him, moving into the rooms would be easy.

_At least I'm not still sore from my morning training,_ she mused. "Hey, Saotome?"

"What?" he asked, not liking the look on her face.

"Care to let me borrow a few Kage Bunshin to help move my stuff?" she asked, her voice so sweet it was almost dripping with sugar.

Ranma just twitched. "Ya just want them to do all the work."

"No I don't!" she pleaded. "I just have some furniture that'll be too heavy for me!"

"… Fine," sighed Ranma. "But the minute you start asking them to move those clothes we got or that cartoon crap of 'a little to the right', they're dispersing."

"Deal!" Nabiki exclaimed with an honest smile. Having her own bed would be nice. Nevertheless, she sure as hell didn't want to move the thing—mattress and frame—by herself.

"**See,"** commented Gobi, **"you resisted taking advantage of the situation. You should feel proud."**

Nabiki paused in her steps. Had she just … not taken full advantage of a situation?

"You okay, Nabs?" asked Ranma.

"Yeah," she muttered, rubbing her forehead, quickly joining his side. It wasn't as if she hadn't expected some changes in her personality, not after all the things she had endured these last few weeks. But the ability to get what she wanted … it had been one of her core drives.

_I … I just didn't want to take too much advantage of Ranma at the moment. Yeah… I'm lulling him into a false sense of security so I can get that Master Bedroom for myself._

"**Oh sure; next you'll be blaming all the changes on me."**

_You're the one in my head._

"**A Raiju simply does not 'force' an ally to do what we desire."**

_You also said no Raiju had bonded as we have._

"**I can no more force you to change than you could force a sparrow to swim in the deep ocean. It simply isn't done."**

_Then why am I changing? I mean, I expect a little after all of … this,_ she thought, her mind forcing down the images she suffered under the ninja who kidnapped her. _But to change so much…_

"**I have found that humans will adapt to any sudden changes in their environment. This world would certainly count as that.**

"**Face it, my Host,"** the Raiju commented in a jovial tone, **"all of the changes you are making to yourself are of your own volition."**

Nabiki let out of huff of air. That certainly hadn't been the answer she had expected … or wanted.

* * *

"Are you sure this is wise?" asked Jiraiya. Like him, Sarutobi had remained behind, knowing that the Sannin wanted a word with all those involved.

"Which part?" asked Minato.

"All of it." Taking a cleansing breath, the Toad Sage focused on his student. "The Council won't like you sticking them with Anko. Nothing against the girl, but the old fogies will throw a fit that the duo they invested so much into is relegated to working under her."

"Anko has my full confidence and even that of Ibiki," Minato replied. "She has no hidden mental commands, no hidden loyalties. Hell, I think she wants to kill Orochimaru more than a few of the families he experimented with. Aside from that cursed mark, she is one hundred percent loyal to this village, a fact I cannot make on a few of those men who would complain.

"As such, I see no reason to err on the side of extreme paranoia and ban her use for this village, perhaps creating the very conflict they imagine to exist," he finished. "Bad enough we'll be spending years tracking down that ass and eliminating any networks or sources he left behind; I will not create new ones."

Jiraiya continued to stare at his former apprentice, ignoring the wince of Sarutobi, before a small smile formed on his face. "Good to see the hat didn't destroy your common sense."

Minato chuckled for a moment. "Nah, I just don't like seeing good people get screwed over. Next complaint."

"Are you sure those two are ready for missions, period?" asked the Sage.

"Nabiki is at the moment a low Genin in all terms," offered Sarutobi, lighting his pipe. "Unless you misjudged Ranma's own abilities?"

"That's not it at all," Jiraiya said. "Ranma himself has given me no indications that he has contacted his Raiju, at least to the level Nabiki has. From what I do know, such should be true without the fear created by the Nekoken."

Minato nodded. "A fear like that won't go away in such a short of time as a month. And according to him, this is something he'll have to work out on his own.

"But as you mentioned, we can't coddle them forever, and the others will demand some sign that their investment was and will be worth it. We can only delay it so much."

"I see," murmured Jiraiya. "And the fact Anko is on the team leading him will get them more focused on her than them."

"Partially," said Minato. "To be honest, I think Ranma's the type of person who could get her out of her funk. Anko's the type of person who will help force them to both get better. And in the end, the missions will allow us to test them for C-rank missions later on they'll have to eventually take."

"And Nabiki?"

"I'm hoping she's the type that keeps them from killing each other."

* * *

The trio stood before Minato and the few Chuunins who were assisting him in handing out the missions for the day. They had already passed the Genin teams that had been formerly assigned to helping secure and repair the Saotome-Tendo compound, on their way out for another day of D-rank missions.

"So, what're we doing?" asked Ranma, adjusting the hitai-ate he had been given yesterday by Jiraiya.

"Please don't be babysitting," whispered Anko, praying slightly. "Anything but those whiny brats!"

Nabiki stared at her team leader in confusion. What could be so bad about babysitting?

"Actually, the plan today is also a test of Ranma's training in dealing with his … issues."

"Huh?" asked Ranma. "I ain't got no issues."

"We'll see," said the smirking blond. "Your first mission is an old favorite of this village. In fact, sadly, every Genin team has to perform this mission at one time or another."

Anko paled. "No… No! Anything but that!"

"I'm afraid so," said Minato, holding out the paper. "Your mission … is to find the missing pet cat of the Fire Lord's wife."


	9. Mission Madness Part 1

**Shinobi One-Half**

**Chapter ****9**

**Mission Madness Part 1**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

* * *

"Lady Hisa."

Opening her eyes, the matriarch of the Main Hyuuga family glanced to the others entering the public bath. Normally, she would never be seen there, as the Hyuuga would see it 'below' them.

That was of course before a foreign assault nearby had sent the sewage from that side of town through the clean water pipes.

It would be a while before any Hyuuga bathed in those private baths.

"Hello, Izanami," she replied, looking at the future wife of the Yamanaka clan head. "Pampering yourself some more before the big day."

The woman giggled lightly before slipping into the waters. "Inoichi insists."

"He loves his fiancée, nothing wrong with that," replied Hisa, placing a wet washcloth on her forehead. "I'm surprised he didn't send guards like Hiashi," she continued, motioning to the other Hyuuga females about, Branch Family members, as they had not removed their hitai-ate from their foreheads.

Izanami snorted. "Oh, he tried. But Yoshino was busy with plans involving her husband and an anniversary. And Toyo was working on a new recipe."

Hisa snorted at that. Just because the three males, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, were the best of friends, the automatically assumed their wives—or future brides—would and should be as well. The Hyuuga matriarch almost felt bad for the children of those couples, who would no doubt undergo similar issues.

The door opened once again, allowing a trio of women to enter.

"Lady Tsubame," greeted Hisa, bowing slightly as much as her position in the hot waters would allow. "I am surprised to see you here. Did that strike also create plumbing issues for your clan?"

"No," the Uchiha elder said, motioning for her two female retainers to join her in the public bath. "The closest one is frequented by the Uchiha males today. And despite the seals used to ensure they cannot use the Sharingan to peak at us, they tend to smoke cigars today. Though I would hardly consider them worth the money they paid for them, given the unique … aroma they produce."

All the women there gave a single smirk. Many of the Uchiha Elders favored a cigar that to anyone else, smelled like a wet dog flash-fried with a Katon technique. And after spending good money to use the facilities of the public bathes, one did not wish to leave smelling as such.

"Thankfully, Hiashi never took up such a habit," Hisa replied, clapping her hands three times and offering a prayer in thanks. "I do worry what he will be like when we start a family. I heard a nasty rumor that the Hyuuga Elders get together and smoke those foul things to celebrate the birth of the future heir."

"It is no rumor, Lady Hisa," stated one of the Branch females whose name she couldn't recall. "It was a tradition since before the founding of Konoha."

The matriarch could only lean back on her underwater bench and sigh. "Well, I'll just have to request a price for a mission to destroy them all before my due date when the time comes."

"I guess I should be lucky Inoichi hates those things as well," sighed Izanami. "He says it messes with the plants in his shop."

Tsubame nodded. "Perhaps then a way should be devised to give birth in that shop," she offered with a smile. With a wave of her hand, the bath attendant came from behind the bar, a tray of sake and several saucers in hand.

"Ah, the good life," smirked Hisa as the attendant approached her as well. "Warm sake, good friends, and trashing the men we love; we don't get to do this as often as we should."

"Clan politics," sighed Tsubame, "such is the true evil of the world."

"Sad but true," Izanami replied. "I'm just glad Inoichi will be the one mainly dealing with… Did anyone else hear that?" she asked, looking around.

"Hear what?" asked Hisa.

"It sounded like someone screaming," the light blond replied.

Turning to her guards, Hisa nodded, allowing them to use their Byakugan.

The three Branch females turned as one, their eyes instantly locating the source of the disturbance.

"It appears to be a male with … a feline on his face," the closest one to Hisa stated, eyes blinking in shock.

"Well, I guess a cat on your face would be a good reason to scream," commented Tsubame.

"He is also coming this way," finished the Hyuuga female.

"Should we be worried?" asked Izanami.

"How skilled could someone be with a cat stuck to their face?" asked Hisa.

Her answer came as the wall in the direction of the scream burst towards them, the screaming figure now inside the baths.

"GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" the figure screamed, whirling about to try to dislodge the cat clinging to his head for dear life. His black hair whipped about as he twisted and turned, his hands latched onto the feline as he tried to remove it.

One of his blue eyes was unobstructed by the calico cat, allowing him to spot the nearby wall and he attempted to run into it.

Sadly, the cat—while refusing to let go of the human—was alert enough to shift its position as it clung to the hapless male's skull, saving it from a brutal run-in with the wall.

The male fared better than the wall, which now sported a massive pothole.

"Damn it, Saotome!" cried a freshly arrived woman with short brown hair, accompanied a girl with black hair tied up. "Kill her cat and we don't get paid!"

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure the Fire Lord's wife will be upset that her precious feline was squashed into paste," offered the brunette.

"GET THIS DEMON OFF ME!" cried the disoriented male as he ran around, tripping over a stone, somehow balancing on an empty sake bottle, before spinning around and tearing through another section of wall.

"We are **so** not going to get paid for this," sighed the shorthaired girl as she took off after him.

The other girl shrugged as she followed. "Don't say I didn't warn you!"

The attendant and gathered bathers could only continue to stare, long after the trio had left.

"I did not know Madam Shijimi had acquired a new Tora," sighed Tsubame, forgoing the saucer and sipping directly from her bottle.

"I believe then that must make that Tora VII," supplied Hisa.

"I thought Tora VII was black with white patches," spoke Tsubane.

"My mistake," murmured Hisa. "Tora VIII then."

"That was the cat of the Fire Lord's wife?" asked Izanami in shock.

"Of course, my dear," stated Hisa. "How else would that mission be the bane of Genin in this village for the length of the Fire Lord's reign?"

The future Yamanaka matriarch blinked. "You know, I never thought about it."

"I just pray whatever children I have never get that D-Rank mission," sighed Hisa.

"Should we do anything about the breeched walls before a certain Sannin arrives?" Izanami asked.

"They have someone on staff that's pretty good with Doton techniques," stated Tsubame. "With the amount of ninja in this village, you kind of need to have that."

"… I'm beginning to understand why so much of our youth is blacked out of my memory," muttered the blond as she tossed her empty saucer behind her and grabbed her own bottle.

* * *

"Saotome, you awake yet?"

All he could feel were the tremors of massive adrenaline-withdrawal and a gigantic headache. "What happened?"

"We finally got that cat off you," supplied Nabiki, dabbing several scratches on his face with a cloth dipped in antiseptic. "According to the Hokage, this has been the most damage sustained to the village in pursuit of retrieving that animal. I don't know if that was a compliment or a criticism."

"… Yeah?" he asked, trying to calm the pain enough to open his eyes.

"But on the bright side, you didn't slip into the Nekoken," the transdimensional Tendo offered.

"I think I was in too much pain to slip into that," he grumbled. "No way was that an ordinary cat. If there wasn't one here, I'd swear that was someone from Jusenkyo." No way was a normal cat devious enough, smart enough, and agile enough to avoid what that cat did. "You know, they always said I shouldn't be afraid, cause there was no way one of those things could be a demon.

"I know the truth now, I've seen the evil in its eyes. You can't tell me that furry little bastard wasn't sent by the cruelest ruler in Hell."

"Remind me to show you the video of when we handed it back to the client," Nabiki said, a smile growing on her face. The sheer pain and terror on that cat's face when its owner hugged it…

Priceless. It may have been cruel, but that retrieval was painful and embarrassing. She felt some payback was in order.

"Whatever," he mused, slowly sitting up.

"You're lucky you're so damned tough, Saotome," Nabiki continued, handing him the cloth to finish with his cuts. "You went through seven walls, two roofs, three doors, five windows, a street lamp, one fruit cart, and I think a live-fire training exercise."

That actually got his eyes to open fully, blinking in surprise. "A fruit stand?" he asked. "Not the one near where we live?"

"Nah, a competitor, I think," replied Nabiki, removing a partial impaled kunai from his pigtail. She was a bit surprised it hadn't cut through his hair, merely been embedded in it. "The guy near where we live came by to thank us, even left us a nice fruit basket."

"Sweet," he spoke, all pain forgotten as he stared at the sweet fruits before him.

"Well, you better make it last," Nabiki grumbled. "If they take the money from our pay to cover the repairs; that might be all the food we have for the next few days."

"Yeah, right," smirked Anko, entering the room, waving a large wad of cash before them. "When they negotiated the contract to find her pet, it included a clause that whatever damage occurs trying to corner, and contain it, is paid by the client, them." It was also why no Genin team was given advanced warning about it, should their families wish to redecorate, and why no one aside from newly minted Genin were assigned it … until recently.

"… And he signed it?" asked Nabiki, blinking in shock as she saw the wad of Ryō had already been separated into three equal bundles.

"Actually, his wife forced him to sign it before he looked it over," replied Anko, handing them their share of mission pay. "Lucky for us, she apparently places more value on her pet than he does is renegotiating the contract."

Nabiki just nodded, counting her bills. Her smile grew as she felt a need to splurge, perhaps enjoy a bit of beef tonight.

"I just wanna know how that damned furball got so skilled," Ranma grumbled.

Anko smirked. "Let's just say it has had a lot of training in that department," she replied. If what she saw when she handed back the 'package' to the 'client' was any indication, she could understand why that feline was so good at evading.

Then again, if what Ranma had explained about his past was true, he became the second proof for that explanation.

"So, what now?" asked Ranma, shaking his head to remove the last stars from his eyes. "We got to go to a bank or something?"

Nabiki snorted at that. Ninja Bankers? That sounded like something from Nerima.

"Well, we probably should at least put most of that there," murmured Anko.

"… Seriously?" asked Nabiki. "Ninja Bankers?" _Oh man, this place might just be a ninja-version of Nerima… If I see Anything Goes Take-out, I'm officially crying._

Anko nodded. "Oh yeah, we still have loans and such, but Kami help you if you are late on a mortgage payment. I heard one guy lost his entire house in one night."

"That isn't so odd," replied Ranma.

"No, not 'lost' as in foreclosure, 'lost' as in it was no longer there."

"Where did it go?" asked Ranma, intrigued.

"No one really knows," muttered Anko. "The only people more secretive than ANBU are Banker Nin."

* * *

"I can't believe it," muttered Nabiki, holding her new bankbook.

"Huh?" asked Ranma.

"This place still uses technology from the nineteenth century, yet they have gadgets from the twenty first," she answered, still looking at her book. The roads were basically dirt, yet they had full utilities, even cable. Wireless headsets, yet people still made deliveries on horse-drawn carts. "I don't even know how they get power."

"State secret."

"GAH!" she cried, jumping into Ranma's arms.

Behind them was a smirking Uchiha Elder, eyes hidden by dark sunglasses, and now holding Nabiki's bankbook. "Actually," said Itsuki, "it comes from a variety of sources, but mainly from a hydroelectric plant. The actual location of it is a secret though, unless they put you on guard detail.

"After all, we can't let points of interest to a possible invader become public knowledge."

"Makes sense," shrugged Ranma as Nabiki removed herself from him, trying to ignore the giggles of the Raiju inside of her.

"Don't do that," she grumbled. _And why didn't you warn me about him being there?_ She asked her internal traveler.

"**You did not ask nor was he leaking any intent or ill will towards you,"** replied Gobi.

_Funny, very funny,_ she spat. "To what do we owe this greeting to?" she asked, bowing towards the man.

"Oh, I had heard a bit of gossip about your group being assigned to find the infamous Tora," he mused with a smile. Thankfully when the first Tora had appeared, he personally had already been a Jounin, and thus had never been tortured by such a mission.

Although there was Uchiha urban legend that stated the mission had been so traumatic, an Uchiha on the team assigned to find the ferocious feline had actually achieved the Mangekyō Sharingan.

From the tales he had heard about the cat, it was entirely possible in his humble opinion. That, or it was a tale cooked up by some Uchiha who wanted the clan to suffer. But who could be so cruel as to do such?

* * *

Deep in the mountains, a man wearing a swirly orange mask sneezed.

* * *

Ranma chuckled with embarrassment, rubbing the base of his neck. "Uh yeah, sorry about that if we went through anything you owned."

"Oh, it was no trouble for me," smirked Itsuki. "Although, you might want to be scarce for a while. I heard that said group, or at least the male among them, tore through a public bath being used by several highly important females."

"Gurk!" squeaked Ranma.

Nabiki palmed her face. "Tell me that aren't swearing revenge or a bounty for his head."

"No, nothing so drastic," waved off the Uchiha Elder. "But … I would avoid the Hyuuga compound, as well as any blonds. Hiashi can be a bit jealous at times, so the fact you may have bypassed his security and gazed upon his lovely wife may require him to at least make some attempt at retribution."

His retainer snorted. As if a Main Family Hyuuga would do such a thing. They'd rather send a Branch Family member to do it. Apparently, seeking revenge for themselves was 'beneath' Main Branch family members.

"Damn it, Saotome," muttered Nabiki. "Are you cursed or something? Because it seems like you can't go a month without someone swearing vengeance on you."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" yelled Ranma. "That damned furball was covering my eyes. And I certainly didn't hear anyone on my team warning me about where I was going!"

"Oh yes, because you would have heard us over all of that screaming," she growled back.

"Well, that excitement aside," interrupted Itsuki, "I was hoping to hear about how your day went and perhaps see if we could narrow down a day for us to have that dinner I requested. I am quite curious to try Mr. Saotome's cooking."

The duo blinked, looking somewhat embarrassed; Nabiki for having lost control in public like that and Ranma for forgetting that promise.

"How about tomorrow night?" asked Ranma. "Well, assuming I ain't in the hospital for dealing with another insane cat." He winced slightly, not from fear of saying the word, but from a sudden chill that went down his spine as if Rokubi had not liked that comment.

_Great, now I gotta deal with him tonight._

"Is that okay?" asked Nabiki, directing a glare at Ranma for not even trying to consult her on when to invite a guest. Hell, she didn't even know if they had enough or how many to possibly expect. For all she knew, this dinner would take all of their bonus money.

As if sensing Nabiki's unease, Itsuki turned towards her. "Just a simple dinner for an old man, then. As a member of the Uchiha Clan Council, I have no trouble getting any of the rarer foodstuffs I might desire. My retainer is not allowed to dine with us in case there is an attempt via the cooking. "

Ranma opened his mouth to make a comment about how his cooking wasn't going to be made by a tomboy, only for it to be cut off by Nabiki's hand covering it. "That would be fine," Nabiki stated.

Unlike Ranma, she recognized a possible threat being dealt with. What sense did it make to have guards who would fall into the exact same problems you did.

"Very well then," bowed Itsuki. "I look forward to it.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to meet some people about busted lines under an Uchiha property," he said sadly. "Do hope you never have to deal with such clan politics when you grow to be my age," he replied, turning about and walking down the street, his retainer following.

"Well, that wasn't—OW!" cried Ranma as he felt someone pinch his ear.

"We need to have a nice talk, Saotome; about the proper internal etiquette for inviting guests," Nabiki growled out. This was going to be the last time he spoke first and thought later about dinner guests while they were living together.

"**Oh, kinky."**

_Shut up, you._

* * *

"Sir, if I may ask."

"Yes?" replied Itsuki.

"Why did you not mention that Lady Tsubame was also present at the bathhouse?"

The elder Uchiha chuckled lightly. "To be honest, I think she was more amused at the entire situation than anything else, especially since it tripped up the Hyuuga. Add to that the fact that he obviously did not spy any of those there, she accepted it as a funny accident and moved on.

"Getting her to admit such, however, will never occur."

"I see," said the retainer.

What Itsuki failed to mention is that when the conversation between him and the two members of Team Anko reached the ears of certain people—who would notice also his failure to mention Lady Tsubame's presence at the bathhouse, they will wonder even harder at what possible secret plan the Uchiha have for the two.

Oh yes, messing with those who saw conspiracies behind every shadow was so much fun for so little work.

* * *

"Well?" asked Minato.

"They weren't **that** bad," sighed Anko. Looking out the window in the Hokage's office, she let a small smile form on her face. It didn't seem that long ago that she was starting out herself. Of course, this time, they didn't have some bastard ssummoning random snakes to make the cat-hunt that more difficult for the Genin.

Shaking her head at better times and her first team, she turned back to the Fourth. "Saotome was easily outpacing us, Tendo was a lot slower than me, but she still kept a solid pace."

"So you held back to keep up with her?" he asked.

"A little," she replied with a smile. She did kindly neglect to mention that she had also served to 'motivate' the Tendo girl to move faster.

Minato nodded, making a note to discuss that with Sarutobi about increasing the girl's speed. "Anything else to note?"

"No Nekoken, of course," she replied automatically, remembering the briefing about that incident before the trio had left for the mission.

"Some progress, I guess," Minato replied. It didn't mean he wouldn't have ANBU continue to watch the new Genin. But it did calm some of his fears. Having such a powerful but uncontrollable weapon was like having a poorly sealed Bijuu in the village. Raiju or not, many on the Council would not stand for having such a danger inside the walls of Konoha, no matter what promises had been made. "I'll tell Ero-Sennin to up his training a bit, same with Sarutobi. Hopefully, we can get them ready."

"Ready for what?" Anko asked.

"Well, we had a requested for a low-C-level mission in two week's time, a simple escort mission to the Land of Valleys."

"Sounds simple enough," Anko replied. "What's the catch?"

"The client wants the fastest route. We however would like to avoid the areas still suffering the chaos from the current Great Ninja War."

"Probably add a few days, might give us a chance for some reconnaissance in the area."

"Of course, optimally, we would want to send Jounin-only or at least ANBU," he continued. "But given the needed preparation in case others join in on the fighting, I'm afraid it just isn't possible at the time. We may have kept Konoha out of it, but that doesn't mean others will see a similar line of logic."

"How many?" Anko asked.

"Probably one or two Jounin. Jiraiya will accompany you for a while, he has some … business in the area."

"Business or … **business**?" Anko asked.

"The type we need, not the type he explores on his own," Minato responded with a smirk. "Should give you a bit more cover in the area."

Anko nodded. "Better to have that cover during the first third of the journey. But even then, we'll be gone for a few weeks, depending on the pace the client can set."

"Best I can do," he responded. "The Council needs to see that those two are worth the massive investment we put into them. In addition, considering the situation among the other villagers, I can't afford to spare more people now with the additional patrols.

"Luckily, the route is pretty far from the expected war zone, no major ninja villages nearby, and no one we have any grudges against or who have them against us."

"Sounds pretty boring," muttered Anko, sighing. And it had started out sounding so good too. At this rate, she expected the client to either be a drunk, grabby, or so vanilla, he wouldn't stand out in an open field.

"Standard mission add-on," waved off Minato. "With luck, Kakashi should be finished with his mission in the Land of Snow, so he can be an escort. Gai should be available be then as well, which should calm the Council members about your involvement.

"We'll discuss it later," Minato said quickly, spotting the time on the wall. "I gotta get going or she'll skin me alive!"

"Wha—"

**FWOOSH!**

Blinking her eyes to get her sight back from a bright yellow flash, she noticed that the Hokage was gone. "I swear, that is the coolest jutsu out there.

"But why is it whenever I learn one thing about those two, I get three more questions to replace it?" she asked, heading out of the office. She was beginning to think there was more to the newest Genin than what she had been told.

And since she knew a lot about how ninja villages operated, she couldn't even begin to guess what the hidden fact was, especially considering that she was cleared enough to know of the Nekoken.

* * *

"So, do you understand now?" asked Nabiki as they entered their compound.

"Yes, already," grumbled Ranma, rubbing his ear with his free hand, the other was holding a large bag of groceries. "I get it; I have to make sure to run these things by you."

"That's all I ask," Nabiki said, opening the door to their place. "Itsuki is pretty important here and it wouldn't do to give him a bad impression."

"It won't be that bad," Ranma said. "I mean, he said he just wanted something simple. As long as he ain't used to something like Kasumi could cook, we'll do fine."

Nodding, Nabiki continued inward towards the kitchen area. "Well, he and the others in charge here went through a lot to give us this big place and the last thing I want them thinking is that it was a bad idea. I do **not** want to end up in some dingy apartment, Saotome."

"**Oh, but it would be so cozy, sharing a one-bedroom…"**

"Oh shut it!"

"I didn't say anything!" yelled Ranma.

"Not you, Saotome; the damned Gobi Raiju," she replied, sounding exasperated. "I swear; it's like having one of our fathers' in my head at times."

"… I don't want to know what its saying, do I?" asked Ranma.

"No, Saotome, no you do not."

"Right, ignoring it then. I'll just be cooking."

"And I'll figure out what to make for tomorrow."

Ranma gave her a hooded glare. "Why are you deciding what we make tomorrow?"

"Because I can budget," Nabiki responded as she sat down at the table. "We can't afford to go all out to impress Itsuki. We can impress him on a budget."

"…" Sighing heavily, he returned to taking the groceries into the kitchen. _This day just doesn't end for me, does it?_

* * *

Itsuki chuckled loudly. "That … that really happened? He thought he was engaged … to a monkey?"

"To be fair," said Ranma, "it was wearing a wedding dress."

The Uchiha elder continued to laugh, nearly pounding the table. "I can't believe such a thing happened!" he exclaimed. "You have to be pulling my leg!"

Nabiki shook her head. "No, all true. It was all because the fiancée was so scared about who she might be engaged to, she thought it best to send the monkey ahead of her, a plain … ordinary … monkey."

"Hey, it was trained in their Art!" grumbled Ranma.

Itsuki continued to laugh. He knew some animals could be trained to fight; the Inuzuka and the Aburame clans were good examples of that. But the sheer hilarity of training a monkey to take your position during an omiai, and no one noticing said fact…

"Oh," he said, breathing deeply as he tried to regain control over himself. He knew beyond a doubt that such a tale might even liven up the next Uchiha Council meeting. Kami knew that most of those members were too jaded about the world to enjoy life, but surely that story would crack a few of them. "Oh, I must say that was a truly great story," he continued, getting his laughter under control. "Had I not heard you say it myself, I don't think I would have believed such a tale."

"You believe it?" asked Ranma, shocked. Even his mother had sought out further confirmation of his story.

Itsuki nodded. "Yes. You see, without my eyes, I have to use other means to tell the truth among those near me. It comes in very handy at the Village Council and the Uchiha Council meetings to be able to find subtle hints others would miss.

"Heart rate, breathing pattern, odd movements; each can be used in certain ways to tell if someone is lying to you. Though the process is a bit more difficult for the Council meetings, you'd be surprised what some people will let slip in the political arena, especially to a blind man."

"… Wow," murmured Ranma. "I never woulda thought of that," he spoke in awe.

The Uchiha just smirked. "Underestimation is a powerful weapon. It is amazing how many ninja who become members of either Council forget that simple lesson, to look beyond the obvious, to find a deeper truth."

"Then again, maybe they do know, but are trying to lull you into a false sense of security and belief you know what is going on in their heads," offered Nabiki.

Itsuki chuckled lightly again. "All true, most likely the truth for some of them.

"But, my dear, the truth is to know which ones can be that devious," he offered, as he dabbed his mouth clean.

"Truly, a wonderful meal, one I am quite thankful to have attended." He turned his head slightly towards his retainer. A silent signal passed between the two, before the man vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Where'd he go?" asked Ranma.

"He is merely scouting the path from here in preparation for my departure, nothing more," he replied. "Formality above all else, as sadly in a ninja village, politics can be murder."

"Guess all politicians will stab you in the back," commented Nabiki. "Only here, they did it figuratively and literally."

"Sad, but true," Itsuki murmured.

"Anyway, I must be going," he continued, standing up as his retainer appeared before him. "But before that, I heard about an interesting confrontation today between you, Mr. Saotome, and a certain Yamanaka male."

Nabiki quickly turned a surprised glare onto the Saotome male. "Oh? First I've heard of it."

Ranma looked away nervously, scratching the base of his pigtail. "Guy just popped out of nowhere, said I had offended his pride, and tried to impale me with kunai."

"Oh?" asked Itsuki.

"Yes, Saotome; do go on," Nabiki growled out.

"Ah man, nothing happened, Nabiki," he said quickly. "Guy tried some weird double-hand seal I haven't seen before, stated some jutsu name I couldn't hear too well, and just stood there. I think whatever it was; he must have done wrong because nothing happened. So I ran up and hit his sleeping point, no biggie!" he exclaimed.

Itsuki just chuckled. "I did warn you that some of those clans might be upset with the hot spring incident."

"Yeah, well, that guy wasn't so tough," Ranma snorted. "Couldn't even pull off his jutsu right."

Nabiki just rubbed her forehead. "You really do collect rivals and enemies, don't you?"

"Well then, thank you for satisfying an old man's curiosity," interrupted Itsuki. "We should do this another time, perhaps at my place. I promise a grand meal, even one large enough to fill your stomach, Ranma."

Ranma just chuckled nervously. "Thanks."

* * *

"Amazing," murmured Itsuki, as he and his retainer made their way back. "I never would have believed someone could escape one of Inoichi's techniques."

"Are you certain, sir?"

Itsuki nodded. "It fits with what we learned. To think someone of his skill failed to hijack Saotome's body…

"Nothing short of impressive, that boy. Were it not for those stories tonight of how his father sold him to other families, I would be tempted to send any and all available female Uchiha to woo him."

"And you won't?"

"Of course not, Bukotsu" spat Itsuki. "The boy seems afraid of any commitment at the moment; intimacy of any strong level escapes him as well, which should prevent the other Elders in the clan from trying to get his blood into the clan through … other means." Not that he thought it would be a successful blockade; some would try it if only to try to strengthen their branches of the Uchiha clan. However, the stories learned that night would help prevent it from being blatant or a major priority.

The named retainer only nodded.

"I assume some others were watching our dinner?" Itsuki continued.

"Yes, sir," Bukotsu replied. "I was able to spot only three however."

"Only three?" asked Itsuki. "My, either they feared nothing or sent better than they usually do.

"I wonder … does the Byakugan allow the Hyuuga to read lips from a distance," he murmured.

"Anyway, it was quite an excellent meal," he continued, making his way towards his compound. "One would hardly expect someone like Saotome to have such great cooking skills."

"Indeed, sir. One does wonder about where and why he learned such a wide variety of cooking styles."

"Now that, my dear Bukotsu, is a story for our next meal with them. Do make a note of that, please." A good meal, confused rivals, and excellent dinner conversation: truly, a great night for him.

* * *

"**Very good,"** spoke Rokubi. **"You are gaining reign over the fear of your spirit animal, and thus, soon you will have an open link with me."**

"Oh joy," muttered Ranma. Like having them in his head had been so enjoyable to that point.

He could hear the Raiju chuckle. **"Perhaps you have forgotten how your spirit animal helped you defeat Cologne, or the other times the Nekoken was your trump card. It has always been there for you when you needed it, providing when your body could go no further.**

"**It knows the name Saffron very well."**

Ranma ignored the growled that he could tell where it had come from, no doubt his inner cat, the cheetah spirit being angered by the name. Not that Ranma liked Saffron too much, either. But he **had** killed the man. Maybe when he had been reborn, Kiima had kept her word and ensured the little brat had grown up knowing to be a good boy.

His spirit animal, the Nekoken, felt differently. He could literally feel its anger, its hatred for the Phoenix King.

"**It says it tried to take what was yours."**

Ranma didn't respond.

"**You care for her deeply."**

"That tomboy!" Ranma yelled.

"**You cannot lie to me, Child,"** the Raiju responded, chuckling lightly.

Ranma winced, forgetting for a moment that the being of energy literally knew all that he did. As standard a response as those denials were, Rokubi could see right through them.

"**It is only a part of you, Child,"** Rokubi stated. **"The hatred and need, the instinct and the desire, these are tempered by a being's higher nature. Just as the Nekoken gave you the strength to defeat him and save Akane, you gave yourself the strength to let him live."**

The Nekoken growled louder this time, the sentiment was clear: it didn't like giving mercy to those that crossed it.

"**Two sides, the higher and lower self. In harmony, they make a powerful force for the individual. Out of harmony, they can lead to that individual's destruction.**

"**As you work towards attaining synchronization with the Nekoken, you must remember to keep hold with what defines you, lest the new instincts and sense of self may wash away that which anchor you."**

"Got it, be careful or I'll be more Neko than Ranma."

"… **Crude, but correct."**

Nodding, Ranma closed his eyes, trying to focus on his meditation. He wasn't going to lose himself to some bloodthirsty little furry demon.

"**I think he took that as an insult,"** the Raiju offered as they heard the Nekoken hiss even louder.

"Tough," snorted Ranma.

"**I can inform you that your progress is amazing. I feel within days, you'll have as much access to my energy as Nabiki has."**

Ranma smirked at that. More power was always good, especially considering Jiraiya's teaching methods of teaching, which seemed to be 'here's the basics, master it on your own while I go researching'.

"**It is not that simple, my Host."**

"Huh?"

"**Because you have access to that energy does not mean you will have control over it. Your friend has better control over the energy of my mate because she had no training, no energy of her own to clash against. From the beginning, it was not a separate mix, but a mixture, where my mate's energy expanded her own.**

"**You have already developed a massive reservoir. As such, it must be mixed carefully, lest I may damage your body's ability to generate it."**

Ranma blinked his eyes open. "Okay, you lost me there."

"**Hmm, let me explain it this way.**

"**Nabiki was able to use the energy of my mate, because what they referred to in their lessons to you as chakra coils, were not developed. As such, when my mate shared her energy with her, they were able to develop quickly and safely.**

"**However, your 'coils' were already developed, have been for some time. As such, extra care and caution must be taken to ensure I do not … overload your coils and damage them."**

"So… I won't get a power boost?"

"**Not for some time. **

"**I can refill your reserves, but only at a set rate for now, until the coils become accustomed to my energy, my chakra."**

"But what about before?" Ranma asked. "I mean, when we killed that nin."

"**As you saw, neither of us were in control. I suspect it was more the Nekoken than anything else, even acting as a buffer to what little power I could offer then. It could be the power took over, your aura moving you like a puppet.**

"**At the time, we were separate entities.**

"**Now, we are harmonic, we have come closer to being true partners is this. The margin of error has shrunk. And I do not wish to ruin your life or body."** It decided to be quiet about how its mate might ruin his life. Why jinx it by discussing it?

Sighing heavily, Ranma closed his eyes again. "Whatever, let's get it over with. I ain't wanting to be afraid of a damned furball every again."

Nodding in agreement, the Raiju looked down upon him, a smile on its face hidden by the external shadow within Ranma's mind.

* * *

Jiraiya fought to not sigh as he avoided a kick from Ranma, only to leap aside as Nabiki tried to catch him with a Katon: Endan. He did wonder why Sarutobi would teach her a fire technique—personally, he would have figured her for either a primary water or earth user, but then again, Sarutobi did teach surprise. If he made that mistake, enemy nin would as well.

But what was really depressing him was the lack of research he had been able to make the last week. Soon, he would be on the road with a team towards the Land of Valleys—an area not exactly known for their hot springs. Add to that his own mission…

_Man, I was so hoping to finish that book this month._

He immediately dropped that line of thought as Ranma nearly clipped him with his Möko Takabisha … and sent him to a strong punch from another Ranma who had been behind him.

Grabbing the incoming arm, Jiraiya spun about, hoping to twist his momentum enough to give him a shot at the Ranma nearest him as the other fired another Möko Takabisha towards them.

_I see, a Kage Bunshin… _

_Impressive kid, but not impressive enough._ Planting his legs into the clone's chest, Jiraiya launched himself up, avoiding a Suiton: Teppōdama from Nabiki.

_So she does know some water techniques,_ he thought with a smirk, wondering if Sarutobi had taught her anything above a C-Rank technique to—

* * *

Jiraiya blinked as his Kage Bunshin was dispersed. "What the hell?" he asked, turning towards the Ranma he had figured was also a Kage Bunshin.

The Ranma smirked as the one who had launched the Möko Takabisha gave a victory sign before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Something I remembered from a fight with Ryoga," the real Ranma said with a smile. "Since those attacks can hit you like a hammer, I just thought … maybe I can rebound it with another Möko Takabisha."

"Not bad," said the smiling Sarutobi. "Of course, had Jiraiya not played around so much, and focused on the fight, the ending might have been different."

The Toad Sage smirked as Ranma's smile fell.

"But it did show great teamwork between you two," he offered the new Genin.

Nabiki smirked, feeling only slightly winded from the work. _Not bad, got him on the ropes. I might not be front-line yet, but I'm not a liability._

"**You put too much on yourself, my Host,"** Gobi offered. **"From the teaching program we know of for the general population, your progress these months has been impressive. You are not defenseless, nor weak."** A loud sigh was heard by Nabiki in her head.

_I'm fine!_ she mentally growled at the Raiju. Like she was still upset about her weakness when they had arrived on this world. She got stronger, damn it.

And no one was going to do that to her again.

Inside her mind, she felt a pang of anger as a mental image formed in her head, one of the Tanuki Raiju shaking her head sadly.

"**In time, my Host… In time, I hope you see the error of that mindset. Relying on others is not a weakness, and even the strongest entities fall. Ranma has been by your side since this. Surely you do not think he would abandon you."**

_I need to be sure I can reduce his need to be there._

"Well then, I guess Minato will be pleased," Hiruzen said with a smile, lighting his pipe.

"Oh?" asked Ranma.

The former Hokage just smiled. "I'll leave that for him to tell you, unless Anko wants to ruin the surprise."

"Nah," waved off the Snake Mistress, casting a glance to the side of the field. She hid a smirk as she sensed the figure head off. _Not very smart, Kakashi; I'm sure they would have let you watch._ It looked like he was making the most of Obito's gift, at least. She had no doubt the others knew he was there, after all.

"Well, let's get going," offered Jiraiya.

"What? We keeping you from some important research?" snorted Ranma.

"Yes. Yes, you are."

Ranma just stared at him for a moment, before palming his face. "Why do I always get trained by guys like him? Can't I end up with a monk or something?"

Nabiki snorted. "Do recall who founded Anything Goes, your martial arts style."

"… Let's go," he replied with a sigh, accepting his lot in life for the moment.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Kid doesn't know how lucky he is, to be taught by the Sage of—"

"Yadda-yadda-yadda, some mountain, blah-blah-blah," waved off Nabiki. "Can we go now?"

The Sannin snorted. "No respect from today's youth."

* * *

"An escort mission," sighed Nabiki, closing the door to their home.

"More to it, they just didn't want to tell us at the moment with him there," replied Ranma, heading to the kitchen to start supper. No way in hell was one of his last meals before their first out-of-village mission, going to be made by Nabiki.

Not that she would complain, less work for her.

"Feels good," the Tendo girl stated, sitting at the counter in the kitchen as he and a bevy of Kage Bunshin began their work. "Nice to see they have faith in us for escorting a rich snob across the lands."

"Rich snobs need guards too," the main Ranma stated, the others being quiet as they worked. "And there's more to it, they just didn't want to say with him there."

"… Any idea what it is?"

"We got Gai, Anko, us, Kakashi, and the Old Pervert," he stated. "Whatever it is, it's pretty important, more so than some grandson of a trading magnate."

"Why us then?"

"Maybe he figured this would be a safe mission to show we're making progress, show those clans that we're not some over-indulged charity case."

She nodded her head. "Well, I guess there is one good thing about escorting this untrained Tatewaki."

"Oh?"

She smirked as she turned towards him on her way to wash up. "I doubt we'll be sleeping in anything but hotels, and high-class ones at that."

He chuckled lightly as she left the kitchen. She could think that all she wanted, but she'd be in for a shock.

He had, after all, hung back enough to hear Anko chuckle about how surprised the pampered boy would be.

"**Let us hope that is all the surprises that await us."**

Blinking Ranma looked around. _Rokubi?_

Silence was all that answered him back.

Snorting, he returned to making dinner. "Today was a day of real progress after all."


End file.
